The construction of hundreds of social and affordable housing units on the South Shore of Montreal is delayed, even threatened, due to the lack of funds and land available, at a reasonable price, in a sector in the midst of a real estate boom.
In 2017, the Habitations Josette-Lachance project, which provides for the construction of 72 social housing units funded by the provincial AccèsLogis program, was then valued at 18 million. An estimate that has “exploded” in five years, explains the To have to the South Shore Technical Resources Group (GRT) project manager, Maude Paquin, who is piloting this project with the Châteauguay municipal housing office (OMH). “I don’t expect a project below 35 million, that’s for sure,” adds Mme Paquin, who attributes this jump to “the overheating of the construction market”.
The opening of bids submitted as part of the call for tenders for this project will take place on July 21.
“We’re super fearful,” says the director general of the OMH of Châteauguay, Bertrand Loiselle, who notes that “the projects that are opening up at the moment are very expensive at the door.” A priori, the organization hopes to deliver this project in the spring of 2024. “But if it is delayed because there is not enough […] We are talking about 2025 here.
Also in Châteauguay, the Société locative d’investissement et de développement social (SOLIDES) turned to the new Québec Affordable Housing Program (PHAQ) to finance a 96-unit project intended for low- and middle income.
However, the organization will depend on other types of subsidies, particularly from the federal government, to ensure the financing of this project, at a time when construction costs “are increasing at a crazy pace”, explains the general manager of SOLIDES, François Giguère. .
“It’s a somewhat surreal situation where we have to add up the programs to have a project that is viable because no government really recognizes the value of these projects,” he says. They want to have as many projects as possible for as little cost as possible. »
Like other organizations consulted, Mr. Giguère fears having to increase the rents he plans to offer in this future building so that his project can materialize. An avenue he would like not to have to take.
“The people we are aiming to house are the cashier at the IGA, the maintenance worker who cleans for $16 an hour. These are people who have salaries, who work hard, but who have difficulty finding housing,” notes the director general, who recalls that the housing crisis is affecting an increasingly broad spectrum of workers.
800 accommodations on the ice
In Longueuil, the lack of available land adds to the financial challenges experienced by community groups in the area that are running social housing projects at arm’s length.
“In recent years, we have submitted a lot of projects, but the issue is the land,” sums up the director general of Habitations communautaire Longueuil, Mary Claire Macleod. “I’ve never needed to be so patient in my life,” she adds, referring to the various social housing projects piloted by the organization.
Joined by The duty, the Mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, indicates that the City’s teams are currently carrying out an inventory of all municipal land and buildings, which should be known this fall. The City then wishes to “develop projects with the community sector” on some of the sites at its disposal, in addition to using its right of first refusal to acquire private land.
“It’s an additional rope that will allow us to have land for social housing,” explains the mayor. Reserving land will, however, be of little use if funding from Quebec and Ottawa for social housing does not increase, notes the mayor. Currently, 801 social housing units are awaiting sufficient funding to take shape in the Longueuil agglomeration, according to a count provided by the City.. Some of these nine projects, explains Mr.me Fournier, would be “ready to leave tomorrow morning”, but “what is missing is funding”.
Rents not so affordable
In Saint-Amable, in Montérégie, members of the community behind the project for a seniors’ residence with 40 affordable housing units noted in mid-May that the amount proposed by the lowest bidder to build this building was significantly higher. than the amount recognized by AccèsLogis. This project, valued at nearly 27 million, is therefore at an impasse.
” If the [Société d’habitation du Québec] does not give more subsidies, the tenants must pay more” in order to increase the share of financing coming from the payment of the mortgage, raises the director general of the GRT of the South Shore, Elie Gravel. However, this project already provides for a rent of 1086 dollars for a three and a half and 1226 dollars for a four and a half.
“We want rents below the market, otherwise it won’t hold up,” insists project manager Maude Paquin, who plans to go back to public tenders in the hope of obtaining a lower bid for this project.
“It is obvious that we are sensitive to everything related to housing and that is why we have invested nearly a billion dollars since 2018 to get the projects that were in AccèsLogis Québec off the ground,” said reacted by email the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest. It recalls that the construction costs eligible for this program were adjusted in 2019, then again this year. “We remain sensitive and attentive. We are working on all fronts to increase the supply of affordable and social housing,” assures the minister.