The City of Belleville is committed to increasing the number of affordable and attainable rental housing units in the city. Since January 1, 2019, the City has approved many planning and building permit applications for new rental apartments. Many are affordable units that have been approved for Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) or Community Improvement Plan (CIP) funding.
The following is a snapshot from January 1, 2019 through to September 1, 2022:
- 808 apt. units received Zoning or Draft Plan of Subdivision approval – these will proceed to Site Plan Control / Building Permit application
- 200 apt. units received Site Plan Control – these will proceed to Building Permit application
- 387 apt. units that received a Building Permit or were under construction during this time
- 158 Second Units were approved
- 149 apt. units were approved for CMHC funding
- 88 apt. units were approved for CIP funding
Housing Summit 2019
On March 18th and 19th of 2019 the City of Belleville hosted a Housing Summit to address housing issues in Belleville.
2019 Housing Summit presentations |
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Some presentations included:
To obtain a copy of the presentations listed above please contact planning@belleville.ca |
2019 Housing Summit videos |
At the Belleville Housing Summit, Council passed a number of resolutions and amendments. Staff have consolidated these motions into seven ‘action items'.
Status of action items from Housing Summit
1. Develop an Affordable Rental Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP) and update the existing Brownfields CIP and Downtown CIP (complete) |
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Status: complete The purpose of this action item is to provide incentives for affordable rental units. The City has approved an Affordable Rental Housing CIP. The Community Improvement Plan is now available on our Community Improvement Plan page. |
2. Staff recommendation on ‘next steps' for housing strategy for affordable and attainable housing (ongoing) |
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Status: City Staff are working on the following items before making a recommendation to Council:
The purpose of this action item is to have a housing strategy that:
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3. Update development charges (complete) |
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Status: Complete The purpose of this action item is to reduce Development Charges by 50% (excluding areas inside the Central Business District which already receive this benefit) for all apartment units being built that enter into an agreement with the City to charge rents at market rate or less for a defined period of time. Market rates will be established by the County of Hastings. And to reduce Development Charges for properties with a minimum of a six (6) unit apartment building to a maximum of 1,000 units by 2025. |
4. Expand the scope of the Official Plan Update to include modernizing housing policies, intensification policies and mixed use policies (complete) |
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Status: Complete (It is expected that Dillon Consulting, who is preparing the new Official Plan will have the document completed in mid to late September and submitted to the City and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs as part of their one-window review process.) The purpose of this action item is to increase the supply of lands available for medium and high residential along with mixed use development (ground floor commercial with residential above) which will ultimately increase the supply of rental units in the City. |
5. Recommendations be referred to the 2019 budget process (complete) |
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Status: Complete City Council approved the budget for the development of the Affordable Rental Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP). |
6. Management prepare a policy for Council consideration regarding property allotment (ongoing) |
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Status: Discussions and Strategies will have to be developed through the City Departments including Clerks and Development and Engineering. There may also be a requirement to include this through the City's Affordable Rental Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP) Study. The purpose of this action item is to provide an annual property allotment from the City to Habitat for Humanity and like Organizations in the City of Belleville of four (4) to six (6) properties for their use/purposes. |
7. Update the Second Units Policy (Complete) |
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Status: Complete City Staff from Planning, Building and Fire & Emergency Services have met to establish a process of how an individual property owner can apply to legalize an illegal second unit. In terms of encouraging new secondary units that include loans or grants, this is part of the Housing CIP. Also, Council has approved/confirmed through the update to the City's Development Charge By-law, that development of second units (including additions and coach houses) are exempt from development charges. The Affordable Rental Housing CIP provides incentives for the creation of second units in new construction homes and in existing dwellings. Approximately $100,000 has been allocated to the 2021 CIP budget to fund the second unit programs. |
The City has developed Guidelines for the Reduction of Parking Requirements for Affordable Rental Housing to offer an incentive for the development of affordable rental housing.
If you are considering building a coach house (separate from the main house), here is some information from the province on Building or Buying a Tiny Home.