Northern Bruce Peninsula council is receiving a delegation this week of an initiative which aims to address the lack of long-term rental housing stock in the area.
On Dec. 12, council will be receiving a presentation by Long-Term Landlord Housing Initiative Project Manager Karla Trudgen.
The initiative is the first part of the Landlord and Tenants Support pilot project, which is funded by Bruce County and implemented by The Meeting Place Tobermory in 2022.
The initiative is aiming to incentivise property owners to become long-term landlords through funding to retrofit and renovate existing buildings in the community.
Two investigative reports were completed in 2020/21, and they identified a need for more and better year-round housing rental options, and need urgent action.
The initiative says homelessness in rural communities is largely invisible, as many who are experiencing it are not necessarily without shelter, but fall under a definition of homelessness.
Additionally, year-round residents are also competing with the seasonal market for real estate.
“Homelessness may be seen as an individual problem, but housing security is a community problem that can affect any of us,” says the delegation.
To draw attention to landowners, the initiative launched an infographic campaign in the spring of 2022, appealing to property owners to consider community needs and the benefits of becoming a landlord.
As a result, those involved with the initiative were pleased to see the number of property owners who were interested in offering long-term housing as a new business, while existing landlords were looking to improve or expand options.
The delegation says The Meeting Place board, staff and advisory group came out with a better understanding of long-term rental issues in Northern Bruce Peninsula. The information collected is now leading the development of recommendations for the next round of actions for year two of the pilot.
Additionally coming out of year one, the initiative has identified actions for the future. These include adding support for landlords to get their units into the rental market in a timely manner, producing a landlord tenant win-win guide specific to the municipality, facilitating education and focus group discussion for property owners and possible tenants as well as various types of rental options, and designing a financial incentive for innovative rental solutions.
Council will be hearing more about the initiative during its meeting on Dec. 12 at 1 p.m.
