Developers would get break on fees for affordable housing units in Barrie

Barrie.CTVNews.ca
Oct. 31, 2017

The City of Barrie wants to move ahead with a new plan to address the affordable housing crisis.

Councillors voted in favour of a plan to give developers a break on fees for affordable housing units on Monday night. The fees are typically paid to the city in lieu of building parkland.

“Barrie has the third highest rent in the country. We have a real affordable housing crisis in the city right now where people on modest income cannot afford rent,” says Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman.

The new plan will reduce or cancel fees for units built with a commitment of offering lower rent prices for a 10-year period.

“This is part of our attempt to get more affordable housing built in Barrie. When a charitable group or a not-for-profit housing provider want to build affordable housing in our city, they could potentially be exempt from some of those dollars.”

The decision still has to be ratified by council at its next meeting.

A report released by PadMapper.com earlier this month found that the average price of a one bedroom apartment in Barrie rose 4.2 per cent to $1,250.