‘Great start’: Regina partners with Sask. Gov’t on North Central housing program

An understanding between the City of Regina, the government of Saskatchewan and a social housing provider is offering a path to home ownership for renters in North Central.

On Monday, the city and province signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Silver Sage, a nonprofit that has provided housing for First Nations people in the Regina area for more than 40 years.

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The Saskatchewan Housing Corporation will transfer up to 10 family units to Silver Sage for a rent-to-own program in North Central.

Tribal Chief and Silver Sage board chair Jeremy Fourhorns said the program will bring a positive change and allow people to achieve success.

“A lot of us find that success because we have a stable place to go back to,” he told reporters on Monday.

“All the resources that we put into it, the money that we put into it – it’s actually putting towards our own future.”

Fourhorns said North Central is in need of a lot of support.

That sentiment was shared by Mayor Sandra Masters, who said the program is part of the city’s North Central Revitalization effort.

“I think the value is huge, and you have to start somewhere,” Masters said.

“Who knows how the market might react to that, because there are a number of vacant properties and properties for sale as well.”

Masters said the city wants to ensure it isn’t just putting more rental properties onto the market and instead wants to create some equilibrium between rental and home ownership rates.

The mayor said the goals are to ensure affordable homes are available, home ownership is attainable, and to help stabilize the neighbourhood.

“You’re going to do it a home at a time and so the start of 10, I think, is a great start,” Masters said.

Silver Sage President and CEO Natashia Bastien said the organization will act as a holding company for the units, and will work with the goal of offering ownership within 15 years of moving into a unit or an equity pullout in 10 years.

Bastien said Silver Sage will collaborate with the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation to develop standards and ensure the properties are up to code.

“We don’t want to set people up to fail,” she said.

According to Bastien, an “overwhelming” 90 per cent of Silver Sage tenants expressed interest in home ownership, but in a survey they listed high down payments, credit and lack of knowledge as obstacles.

As criteria are being developed, Bastien said the organization is eyeing $50,000 a year as the minimum household income threshold for applicants.

Rents for the program would be fixed, and wouldn’t increase with inflation.

Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky said the program is unique to Regina.

“I’m so excited to have a partnership with two other great entities to be able to use Sask. housing units that have had a had a challenge over time to to be occupied,” he said.

“This will hopefully allow individuals a chance at home ownership, and have support as well from Silver Sage.”

Makowsky said the province has made progress addressing the issue of vacant homes in Saskatchewan – saying the total number is around 2,400 right now.

“A lot of them would be in rural Saskatchewan, where we haven’t seen a lot of demand. They would be also in seniors’ units where we’ve seen over time not as much demand. That is changing as the market changes as well,” he said.

Makowsky said many of those units would be apartment-style units that wouldn’t work for a program such as the one Silver Sage is running.

Silver Sage manages 371 income-based rental units in Regina and 599 units across southern Saskatchewan.

Bastien says units are offered at about 60 per cent of the market rate.

Masters credited Bastien and Ward 3 Councillor Andrew Stevens for championing the initiative and getting the ball rolling.