The NDP has released a comprehensive plan to make it easier for Ontarians to afford a good home.
Leader Andrea Horwath is pledging to create 69,000 new affordable housing units.
Horwath says their 10 year plan will capitalize on the federal government’s National Housing Strategy, which aims to build 20,000 new units.
“The housing crisis. I see it everywhere I go and I hear about it in every community that I touch base with. It doesn’t have to be this way and this plan is really a roadmap to finally starting to solve a housing crisis that so many communities are facing in our province.”
She adds “The housing crisis has gotten worse. The homelessness situation is just unacceptable. It’s gotten much worse and its become a humanitarian crisis in a lot of communities. I think people need to know that there’s a path forward in that regard.”
The provincial election is still over a year-and-a-half away, but this is the second plank unveiled in the NDP platform.
The first focused on long-time care.
The ‘Homes You Can Afford’ plan will help people buy their first place by contributing to their down payment with a shared equity loan of up to 10% of the home’s value. Repayments on the loan won’t be necessary until the homeowner sells or moves out, and homeowners will have the option of buying back the government’s share at any time.
The program would also help some 311,000 households pay the rent with direct financial help, and protects all renters from bad apple landlords.
