Habitat for Humanity is hoping to make owning a home in Sooke a more feasible goal for families.
Habitat for Humanity Victoria is an organization that builds homes from fundraised, donated, and government granted money, and sells them to families at market value, but with zero interest, and payments are made based off of household income.
“This means that it could take someone years to pay off the house, but they can have a household income of only, say $35,000 or $40,000, and still be able to afford a house and build equity,” said Yolanda Meijer, chief executive officer at Habitat for Humanity Victoria.
The organization is eyeing a vacant piece of land located at 2008 Murray Rd, which is currently zoned as parkland and owned by the Sooke Lions Club.
They plan to build a cluster of townhouses on the property, which will vary between two and four bedroom, generally around 1,200 square feet in size.
The townhouses will be built in phases, based on funding, interest from the community, and applications submitted.
“This is just to make sure we don’t have a ton of homes built, and then it take years to sell them,” said Meijer. “The success of this project really depends on community engagement.”
Meijer said the organization had been interested in building in Sooke after doing research on the area and discovering the affordable housing crisis happening, leaving families feeling hopeless at the idea buying their own home.
“Habitat is about helping families achieve a dream that might not otherwise be possible,” she said. “With this opportunity, families in Sooke will have stable, secure, and affordable homes. And I think in turn, it will help strengthen the community as a whole.”
Ideally, Habitat would like to start construction this year, and have some units built by 2019, but it all depends on how long it takes to get approved by council for a building permit, and to have the land rezoned. Habitat will be submitting their applications to Sooke council in coming weeks.
Families can find out if they are eligible, and can already start applying at Habitat’s website. An upcoming info session for families interested will be held in Sooke on Saturday, Feb 24. Time and location have not yet been confirmed.
“We are very excited to see what the interest will be from the people of Sooke,” said Meijer.
To learn more about Habitat for Humanity, or to volunteer, visit habitatvictoria.com.