Council received an update from County Housing Services Manager Rebecca Carman on the current community housing inventory supported by Northumberland County. Carman highlighted that as of 2022, this includes 773 units, with 369 managed by non-profit housing providers, 78 units managed by co-operative housing providers, and 344 units managed by the Northumberland County Housing Corporation (NCHC). This does not include the 18 units currently being added to the Elgin Park development in Cobourg. Of the current units, 85.1% are RGI, meaning a household pays no more than 30% of their income on housing costs, with the remaining 15% being affordable housing units.
The presentation touched on the status of planned additions to the local affordable housing stock as pertains to the target set out in the 2019 Affordable Housing Strategy. The strategy calls for creation of 900 new affordable housing units in Northumberland by 2029. Multiple strategies have been implemented to reach this 10-year goal, including the Capital Incentive Program, NCHC Growth Strategy, and growing rent supplement programming. To date, 30% of this housing target has been reached, with 251 new affordable housing units in the pipeline, and the introduction of supportive housing partnerships with key agencies in 2023.