Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. Last fall I asked the Minister about vacant home ownership units in Detah and Ndilo in the riding of Weledeh. The waiting list for public and market rent units is long, and the people can’t see the sense of leaving unsold units standing vacant. The Minister replied, saying that approval notice for home ownership applications would be issued January 31st, and that home ownership units not allocated will be used as replacement of public housing units or market rental units.
How many of these units were sold under Housing Choices in Ndilo and Detah and how many have been released for public or market housing?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister responsible for NWT Housing, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as the ones in Detah and Ndilo go, I’m not quite sure how many have actually been sold yet and then the ones that are vacant out there, so I will undertake to get that information for the Member. I know I did commit to getting the information for the Member. There’s still a little work to do, but I will get that information not only for Detah and Ndilo but for the units across the Northwest Territories.
I did, indeed, give the Minister considerable notice here, so I appreciate that I will be getting that information very soon.
Last session I asked the Minister why home ownership units stand unsold, pointing out that income rating and debt restrictions often prevent people from meeting program eligibilities. A more individual approach is needed. Both the Housing Corporation and I would like to see increased home ownership.
What is the Minister doing to evaluate the Housing Choices program to include some applicant file audits and to pursue other measures to tune up the program and get people into home ownership units?
We have made some changes to our Home Ownership Program. We’re actually just in the process of putting a Minister’s statement together in which we will make the announcement within the next week or so. But the Member is correct, though; there has been a great concern across the Northwest Territories about the number of vacant units. I believe that at one particular time we had 130 vacant units, and that was because we were taking advantage of the federal infrastructure money and getting these units on the ground, and we were left with a situation where we have allotted many more units than actually approved clients.
But we are making some changes to our Home Ownership Program. A couple years ago we tried a program where if you were slightly over the core need income threshold you would still be considered, because right now if you were a dollar over, you would automatically be declined, so we tried to make some changes to that. We had limited success, so we’re still trying to come up with ways that we could get people into home ownership. But we have managed to fill a lot of the vacant units. I think we’ve got, maybe, 65 right now across the Northwest Territories. We’re just completing our evaluation on the intake. I understand there might be about 12 people across the territory that have been approved so far for the HELP program and possibly about seven for the PATH program. And then again, the ones that we can’t sell or get homeowners into, we will either use them for market housing in the community or turn them into public housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister has outlined many of the concerns that we have with this situation. He has also expressed a commitment to get me the information for Ndilo and Detah and for the Northwest Territories. I appreciate that.
When can I expect to receive that, recognizing that I have given advance notice? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I’ll have the information to the Member by the end of day Monday. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
