Sask. Housing wants to turn renters into home owners in remote northern communities.
The corporation is offering to sell 50 social housing units to existing renters. Money raised through the sale will go back into buying or building more social housing units to keep an available supply on the market.
There is no obligation on the tenants to buy and no one will be forced to move. The CEO of New North, Al Loke, has been working with the government for years to put the program together.
He says it will have the biggest impact on some of the smaller communities.
“Individuals have for years been living in these houses and they would probably feel much more comfortable if they could own it,” he said. “We know a lot of these people stay in the communities for a life time, so they can now also have the opportunity of passing the house down to their children.”
Sask. Housing minister Donna Harpauer says in most northern communities, social housing tenants with higher incomes have little or no options to buy because there is little or nothing available on the market.
This new program will not apply to the communities of La Ronge, Air Ronge, Creighton and Denare Beach because the current housing market is adequate to meet demand.