Whereas housing shortages impede the livability of British Columbians and impact a rural communitys ability to attract and retain professional talents and labour thereby negatively affecting the economy; And whereas there has been a demonstrated need, transferred social responsibility and pressure on rural local governments that lack the financial capacity and professional expertise to develop lands suitable for various forms of housing to encourage small scale developers to construct such housing: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the Province of BC to create funding programs to encourage small scale developers to provide much needed housing in rural BC.
Attorney General and Minister responsible for Housing The Province is making a historic investment of 7 billion over 10 years to build 114,000 units of affordable housing as part of Homes for BC A 30-Point Plan for Housing Affordability in British Columbia. The Province is committed to supporting local governments in their efforts to bring affordable housing to small, rural, and remote communities. Regarding funding opportunities, local governments are encouraged to partner with BC Housing to create more innovative and sustainable housing solutions through the Building BC funding streams, including the Community Housing Fund, the Indigenous Housing Fund, and the Supportive and Womens Transition Housing Fund. BC Housing partners with community, non-profit and private sector stakeholders to create new affordable rental and homeownership options for middle-income British Columbians through the HousingHub. The Province has added an additional 2 billion in development financing through B.C.s HousingHub to finance the construction of thousands of new homes for middle-income families. HousingHub works collaboratively with an array of local governments and industry groups to facilitate the purchase of suitable land, equity, access to pre-development funding, low-cost financing, and development expertise to create new affordable housing. The ministry also supports utilizing available Crown land for affordable housing and we are in the early stages of working with ministry partners and Crown entities on new mechanisms to identify and assist municipalities in accessing available land for redevelopment. The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations FLNR has a Crown Land Nominal Rent Tenure Sponsorship program where local governments and community groups can apply for access to provincial Crown land for public purposes through a sponsored Crown Grant or nominal rent tenure. More information on how to apply for this process can be found on the Ministry website here: https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontentgovernmentslocal-governmentsgovernance-po…