Summerside updates affordable housing incentive, rebates on property tax

The City of Summerside is making changes to its affordable housing incentive program in the wake of a review, and is highlighting exactly what developers who build affordable housing in the city can expect.

Council voted unanimously to make changes to the program on Monday night.

"It's something the city does in order to promote the development of affordable housing in our community," said Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher.

"The goal here is to try to encourage the development of affordable housing in our community."

Developers who build affordable housing units in the city can expect a property tax rebate starting at 90 per cent and falling to 30 per cent over 10 years from the date the building is occupied.

Property tax rebate:

• Year 1 and 2 = 90%
• Year 3 and 4 = 75%
• Year 5 and 6 = 60%
• Year 7 and 8 = 45%
• Year 9 and 10 = 30%

"One of the most important things is to be … clear," said Kutcher.

"Anyone developing or in business has to know 'what is it going to cost me, or where I can make some cost saving to get these projects done.'"

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When the program was first adopted in 2019 the housing climate was a bit different, Kutcher said.

"Today we've got lots of build happening in Summerside and we want to continue to do that, but we also as a city have to do that smartly and make sure we can keep up with all the costs that go along with building any kind of unit," he said.

"This is a more measured approach and one that will continue to help get housing built in Summerside."

The program also includes a 50 per cent rebate of building and development fees for new housing developments — a change from 2019, when development fees weren't charged.

Kutcher said he doesn't think that change will impact development activity too greatly.

"We really tried to align our program with what other municipalities are doing here in P.E.I. in order to have a fair playing field for everyone," Kutcher said.

"Building permit fees aren't a significant amount. It's probably not a make or break for any project, but we still wanted to make sure we had some incentive there for developers to be able to get affordable housing units built."

To qualify for the program, new affordable units will have to fit the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's definition of affordable housing.

What is affordable?

CMHC considers housing to be affordable if the cost takes up about 30 per cent of household income. The city stuck with that definition because developers will likely be accessing funding through other programs with that same criteria, Kutcher said.

"A lot of the developers are going to go through CMHC financing or funding," he said.

The changes in the program are effective immediately, Kutcher said.