Albertans looking to find adorable housing can now find a home that meets their needs and budget with the new online tool, Find Housing.
The online tool is now live and is designed to help Albertans locate and apply for affordable housing, by guiding potential applicants through the process of evaluating their eligibility and connecting them with providers and housing options for their individual situations.
“Searching and applying for housing support can be a difficult task, which is why Alberta’s government made it a priority to streamline this process. Thanks to input from tenants living in affordable housing and the agency staff who support them, the new Find Housing online tool is an easy, effective way for Albertans to accessing the housing they need,” said the Minister of Seniors and Housing, Josephine Pon.
The Find Housing tool was created using input from current tenants, housing operators, and social service agencies, and will provide information previously spread across numerous sources and make the application process easier and more direct.
The Find Housing online tool reflects the Affordable Housing Review Panel’s recommendations to transform the affordable housing system.
Based on the Affordable Housing Review Panel’s advice, the government of Alberta is working to define its role, learn from community experts, expand partnerships, reward innovation, and simplify the affordable housing system.
The Affordable Housing Review Panel presented 19 recommendations that the Government of Alberta accepted.
The panel recommending focusing on affordable housing by developing a provincial strategic plan for housing with short-term and long-term objectives addressing provincial needs.
Unlocking existing equity and building sector capacity by developing a provincial asset management plan to move the government of Alberta from being an owner of affordable housing assets to regulating and funding housing programs.
Developing and implementing a strategic asset transfer plan that achieves equity, safety, flexibility, and sector financial sustainability by working with key stakeholders, including housing management bodies, not-for-profit organizations, private landlords, private developers, and Indigenous organizations.
Ensuring all proceeds from the transfer of assets are maintained within the affordable housing system and invested in a manner that grows the financial resources available to meet affordable housing needs, work with housing management bodies to build capacity within the sector, improve and redevelop the affordable housing stock, improve service delivery to those in need and prioritize applications for subsidized housing based on local need, and if appropriate, encourage housing management bodies to reorganize, collaborate or consolidate operations to increase capacity, including fiscal capacity, development and operational expertise.
Engaging and facilitating collaboration among housing management bodies, not-for-profit organizations, private industry, and Indigenous organizations, and governments to build increased capacity and develop appropriate housing solutions.
Updating the previous review of the Seniors Lodge Program conducted in 2015 with a view to increasing the effectiveness of lodges in meeting housing needs.
Promoting partnerships by identifying opportunities to maximize and leverage federal funding to increase the supply of affordable housing in Alberta.
Working with Indigenous stakeholders to advocate to the federal government for continued, long-term supports to address the housing needs of Indigenous communities in Alberta.
Directing current and future provincial funding allocations to a mix of rent supplements and capital funding that maximizes affordable housing choices for Albertans.
Building on the current review of the rent supplement program, rebalance funding to include a modest subsidy for people who are currently not able to access deeper subsidy programs to enable them to stay in their housing or find housing of their choice in the private market.
Encouraging municipalities to develop local housing and homelessness needs assessments and action plans to better understand local needs, identify local priority populations, help guide local, provincial, and federal investments in affordable housing, and develop solutions to address the unique needs of urban, rural, and remote communities.
Simplifying administration by directing the Government of Alberta to update the approach to determining eligibility and calculating rents to include additional household income and assets and allow for more local control over prioritization to promote local solutions, rebalance fairness and generate more stable revenue.
Working with housing operators to develop a centralized housing portal to manage waiting lists and develop standardized application forms for the community housing and seniors lodge programs.
Directing the government of Alberta to improve its approach to capital maintenance funding, including the establishment of an expedited process for project approvals and setting benchmark timelines for project approvals.
Supporting Innovation by encouraging the government of Alberta to update the provincial regulatory regime to increase the affordable housing supply.
Encouraging municipalities to update local planning policies, processes, and regulations to develop affordable housing and encourage innovative forms, such as tiny homes, secondary suites, co-housing, and repurposing of non-residential buildings into affordable housing units.
Working with housing partners to support and encourage innovative forms of affordable housing and working with housing partners to support and encourage the development of innovative operating models to create community benefits and increase the sustainability of affordable housing.
More than 110,000 Albertans live in more than 57,000 government-subsidized housing units, and more than 24,000 eligible households are on waitlists for affordable housing programs.
“The Affordable Housing industry can be challenging to navigate due to the variety of housing solutions that are available. What is exciting about the Find Housing online tool is that it will assist individuals to find the appropriate housing type within the community of their choice,” said the Executive Director of the Leduc Regional Housing Foundation, Margot Hagarty.
The Find Housing tool can also be used by family members, not-for-profit organizations, and social service agencies to help others access housing information and affordable housing solutions.
The Find Housing online tool can be found at, https://findhousing.alberta.ca/.
