Grey County will have a conference in the spring to promote cheap, near-market rental, and achievable housing developments.
According to a report to council on October 10, county staff are looking into potential incentives to encourage the construction of affordable units. The county has surplus land in Markdale and Durham that could be used for affordable housing.
The work is part of the Grey County Housing Action Plan endorsed by council in August of 2023.
"The Plan identifies a variety of actions that may be undertaken to support the creation of missing-middle, affordable, and near-market rate rental units, as well as home ownership units which are often referred to as ‘attainable’," stated the report.
The plan includes nontraditional funding and social finance approaches to create innovative forms of non-market and other tenure models.
The county wants to bring together private and non-profit developers and housing providers, with investors, municipal and county representatives, and community partners at some point in the spring to brainstorm.
The county provided $3 million to Lutheran Social Services’ 40-unit apartment building for seniors, which awaits funding from upper governments, and Grey County is also redeveloping an 11-unit geared-to-income building to create 36 units of affordable and market housing in Dundalk.
A $647,800 contribution to the County’s Affordable Housing Reserve was made in the 2024 approved budget. The estimated reserve balance at the end of 2024 is $1 million.