Fredericton to offer $20K grant to 5 first-time homeowners
Funds would be used to build small homes on city-owned property
The City of Fredericton is looking to give first time homeowners a bit of a leg up when it comes to building their first home.
The city is offering five $20,000 grants to people with a family income below $100,000 to build new homes on city-owned property.
The fully serviced lots would be located on one of several city properties off Cliffe Street.
"This [grant] is for the first-time homebuyer and we're trying to facilitate an affordable home to be built," Janet Flowers, the city's affordable housing development co-ordinator, said in an interview on Information Morning Fredericton.
There is no approved list of builders or mortgage companies for the soon-to-be homeowners to work with, but there are several conditions on building.
They must be smaller starter homes, with two to three bedrooms, and they must be lived in by the owner, not rented out, and can't include garden homes or garages.
These conditions will be enforced by a restrictive covenant placed on the land, and the money will have to be paid back to the city if those conditions are breached within the first 10 years.
She said the restrictions are put in place with affordability in mind.
"By making those parameters — a smaller house, not having a garage … It reduces the cost of building that house," said Flowers.
"It makes the whole process more affordable in the end."
Like many Canadian cities, housing in Fredericton is at a premium.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the vacancy rate for rentals in Fredericton is 0.9 per cent.
Flowers said the project could be expanded, depending on how this round goes.
"We want to see how it works first, you know, because it's something new that the city is doing."
While applications are not yet open, the city expects the first lots would be made available in early 2025.
To better understand the evolving housing needs of the area, Fredericton has launched a new housing assessment survey on its Engage Fredericton website.
Flowers said the city wants to get a better understanding of how much people are spending on housing, what kind of housing is needed and is also interested in hearing specific stories from residents.
"There is a story up there now of a family who is significantly under-housed. They're living in a two-bedroom, small unit — three children, mom and dad," said Flowers.
"This really brings home the human part of why we need to build more housing."
The survey is available until Jan. 26.
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With files from Information Morning Fredericton