Many tenants who moved into a new 39-unit affordable complex in Williams Lake recently learned they will be paying less rent in January 2020.
The adjusted rent will see the 27 one-bedroom units rent for $690 a month and three two-bedroom units rent for $825 a month.
Back in July 2019, the ministry confirmed the rates would be $800 a month for the one-bedroom units and $925 a month for the two-bedroom units, which raised the ire of city council because members understood it would be an affordable housing complex.
Read more: Province responds, City demand answers on affordable housing
The five-storey building is being operated by the Williams Lake Association for Community Living (WLACL) and executive director Ian McLaughlin said the association is very happy the rents were lowered.
“It’s good news for the tenants there,” McLaughlin told the Tribune Wednesday. “As of Jan. 1 they will be paying a lower rent. All the people were already living in there and we just notified them this week there rents would be lowered. They are all very happy.”
Four of the units are renting for $375, which is the provincial shelter rate. Four one-bedroom units are renting for $500, and one three-bedroom unit that consists of two accessible rooms and one room for a caregiver is renting for $1,600.
City coun. Scott Nelson said he would have liked to see all the units at the $375 shelter rate, but the fact the rents are being lowered on the majority of the units was good news.
B.C.’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said the government is proud to support the project.
“Everyone deserves to have a secure and affordable home, where they are welcomed as part of a community,” Robinson noted in a press release.
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