The City of Richmond is offering grants of $40,000 to speed up the delivery of affordable rental housing.
The city is setting aside $10 million of the $35.9 million it received last year in federal funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund to "reduce potential barriers to the timely construction of homes for families, seniors and vulnerable residents," the city said in a press release.
Eligible non-profits, co-operatives and homebuilders can apply for these grants to offset development fees associated with building affordable rental housing.
Furthermore, $50,000 grants can be applied for to conduct rental housing feasibility studies.
The Housing Priorities Grant Program of $10 million was approved by city council last November to encourage the development of at least 220 more affordable rental homes across the city.
Applications are being accepted until March 26.
For more information, including eligibility criteria and application material, go to www.richmond.ca/CityGrants.
Federal funding also helps in permit process
The $35.9 million has also been used to create a Housing Office to focus on creating more affordable rentals in Richmond.
The Housing Office team can fast track permits for rental and affordable housing and “create new partnerships with non-profit agencies to support new developments,” explained city spokesperson Clay Adams.
The federal funding is also being used for the city’s digital permit process (MyPermit) which enables some building permits and applications to be submitted online. This is intended to reduce processing times and potential barriers to construction, Adams said.
“More than 400 trade-related permits have been approved so far, and the system is being expanded through the fund in 2025 to include building permits for single-family and duplex renovations and rezoning applications,” he added.
Furthermore, the city is also looking at existing policies and legislative requirements for parking, zoning and pre-zoning “so developers have a clearer understanding of what is needed to make affordable rental housing easier to build.”
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