Manitobans will have better access to good housing with the creation of a new tax credit to support private sector rental housing construction, and new investments by the provincial government to build 1,000 new rental housing units, says the Province’s Housing and Community Development Minister, Kerri Irvin-Ross.
“Every Manitoban should have access to a good, affordable home to build a life for their family, which is all that much more important with so much uncertainty in the economy,” she says. “That’s why we’re taking new steps to give more families access to better housing and it’s why we’re providing new incentives to private sector developers to help build even more options for Manitobans.”
The provincial government’s 2013 budget includes a plan to build 1,000 new rental housing units over the next three years, including 500 affordable housing units and 500 social housing units. These new units will add to the Manitoba government’s HomeWorks program, which is committed to developing 3,000 new affordable and social housing units by 2014.
To encourage the construction of more apartments in the private sector, the 2013 budget also creates a new Residential Rental Housing Investment Tax Credit, which will provide an eight per cent credit on construction costs for private developers to build new rental housing with affordable units.
“With more people than ever before calling Manitoba home, there is a clear need for more rental housing,” says Mel Boisvert of the government relations committee of the Winnipeg Realtors Association. “This new rental housing tax credit will help encourage more developers to build better housing options for families in Winnipeg and across the province.”
Over the next three years, the Manitoba government has committed to investing $100 million annually to restore and redevelop housing units in its portfolio. An additional $34 million will be dedicated each year to repair existing stock and provide quality home environments for tenants.
These investments to build more affordable housing are in addition to increased benefits for employment income assistance recipients and other low income Manitobans announced in the 2013 budget through an annual increase of $6.3 million in RentAid shelter benefits.
