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Province financing ensure lower rents in new Maple Ridge affordable housing complex

Government offers low-interest loan to developer in exchange for reduced rates for future tenants
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The province is bank rolling a $19.4-million affordable housing project in Maple Ridge offering a lower interest rate to the developer with the guarantee all saving will be passed on to future tenants.

Construction is already underway on a 49-unit affordable housing project just east of 222nd Street on Dewdney Trunk Road.

The building – designed for middle-income individuals and families – should be complete, and tenants in around February 2022, according to Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare.

But Wednesday, she announced that the provincial government, through its BC HousingHub initiative, is providing interim construction financing for the local project. In turn, by providing reduced interest rates to the developer, the developer is required to ensure those savings are passed on to the occupants in the form of reduced rental rates.

It means monthly rents for the new project are expected to range from $1,650 for a studio apartment, up to $2,200 for a three-bedroom unit, Beare said.

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“These new units will mean more working people and their families can find a place to call home in Maple Ridge,” she said.

“Affordable housing has been a priority for our government since day one, and I’m proud that we are continuing to invest in the housing that people need.”

This project is part of the more than 23,000 new homes that are complete or underway around the province, including 9,750 in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser regions, as part of the government Homes for B.C. housing plan.

A map showing the location of all announced provincially funded housing projects in B.C. is available online:https://www.bchousing.org/homes-for-BC

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Roxanne Hooper

About the Author: Roxanne Hooper

I began in the news industry at age 15, but honestly, I knew I wanted to be a community journalist even before that.
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