At a time when Drummondville is experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis, a non-profit organization on the South Shore of Montreal has acquired nearly 400 dwellings there in order to protect them from “real estate speculation”. A major transaction carried out without the contribution of any government subsidy.
This is, by far, the largest acquisition made to date by the Rental Investment and Social Development Company (SOLIDES), based on the South Shore of Montreal. The organization, whose objective is to offer affordable rents to its tenants, owns nearly 700 apartments located in Châteauguay, Longueuil, as well as in the Montreal boroughs of Verdun and Lachine.
However, the organization’s housing stock has recently increased by 363 residential and student housing and 41 commercial premises, acquired in different sectors of Drummondville in order to protect these units “from real estate speculation” by ensuring “their very long-term affordability”. , mentions a press release from SOLIDS, of which The duty obtained embargoed copy. A press conference is being held at 1:00 p.m. this Wednesday in Drummondville to confirm this acquisition, for which the bill amounts to $42.5 million, including transfer duties and costs related to renovation work that will take place over the next few years.
The organization thus benefited from the sale of 45 buildings that until recently belonged to Boissonneault Groupe Immobilier. In an interview, the general manager of SOLIDES, François Giguère, indicated that he was worried about the prospect that this vast housing stock would instead be acquired by a real estate developer who would have tried to evict his tenants or increase their rent in a abusive. It must be said that these hundreds of units are currently offered at affordable rents, generally ranging from 600 to 750 dollars per month for a 4 and a half apartment.
“The most important thing for us is that these are homes taken out of the speculative market”, insists Mr. Giguère, who specifies that the majority of the homes acquired are already rented, and that none of the tenants concerned will be evicted in the future. framework of this acquisition. People with an “average or modest” income will also be prioritized by the organization to occupy the accommodation that will be vacant in this housing stock, he also specifies.
housing crisis
The organization thus undertakes to maintain the rents for these units at an affordable price for at least 50 years. An initiative that takes shape at a time when Drummondville is hit hard by the housing crisis. The day after 1er July 2022, 135 households found themselves without housing in this city of Centre-du-Québec, out of a total of approximately 600 in Quebec, according to data then issued by the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment.
“Drummondville is the city in Quebec where the housing shortage is hitting the hardest,” notes François Giguère.
Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) also show a rapidly growing average rent in Drummondville, where it rose from $696 to $768 between October 2021 and the same period. last year. The demographic growth in this city, which recently passed the milestone of 80,000 inhabitants, has also exacerbated the scarcity of housing. Last year, 0.4% of rental units were vacant, a percentage that drops to 0.2% for units with three bedrooms or more, according to CMHC.
Of all the housing acquired by SOLIDES in Drummondville, 98 are apartments intended for students, the other units being accessible to a wider clientele. Nearly two-thirds of the homes acquired are two- or three-bedroom apartments, which are becoming increasingly rare in this city, as elsewhere in Quebec.
No subsidy
In order to carry out this major transaction, SOLIDES did not have recourse to any government subsidy. The organization has instead relied on loans insured by CMHC and private partners, such as the Caisse d’économie solidaire Desjardins and the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation. A business model that could inspire other organizations in the affordable housing sector, says the director general of the South Shore Technical Resource Group, Elie Gravel.
“By financing an acquisition of this magnitude 100% like that, it gives the impression that we could do that ad vitam aeternam and repeat the model elsewhere,” rejoices Mr. Gravel, who contributed to the financing of this project. “It’s something that is easily achievable,” he said.
However, the general manager of SOLIDES wants to be cautious. “It’s not something that can replace AccèsLogis”, a government program dedicated to financing the construction of social housing in the province. However, the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, recently confirmed in an interview with The Press the Legault government’s intention to put an end to this program and focus instead on the Quebec Affordable Housing Program (PHAQ), launched last year, and which is not unanimous in the community.
“By focusing only on affordable housing, it’s a disaster,” says François Giguère, at a time when waiting lists are getting longer all over Quebec to obtain social housing. “The poorest of the poor, we abandon them. »