How It All Works

Levels of affordability vary depending on government support and funding opportunities, but all projects typically require the right ingredients: land equity, not-for-profit initiative, political will, and community need. With land equity alone, a minimum level of affordability can usually be achieved through access to favourable financing. Deeper levels of affordability are achieved through a number of other key ingredients to offset construction costs to reduce the debt obligation – in turn reducing rental rates. This is achieved through federal and provincial grants and subsidies, municipal waivers of fees, charges and offsite improvements, fundraising, and other methods.

Each project is unique and complex, often requiring a blend of the right ingredients to achieve affordability which can be produced in a number of forms and tenures. We are specialists and leaders in this field. Please contact us to learn more about how we can help you reach your goals.

We start with a series of meetings between you as the client and our management staff to ascertain your organization’s goals and mission. Is there a financial outcome or expansion of community services? Is there a certain demographic you want to focus housing efforts on? What role do you see your organization playing in your community with this new housing being built? Does your vision align with a current or future funding program, either provincially or federally? What does the municipality envision for the property?

During and after our initial meetings, we research municipal zoning requirements for your property and run initial proformas to determine what would be the most efficient and economical building form for the property, and how it aligns with government initiatives and programs. We take into account considerations like density, height, setbacks, building form and character, and any required municipal payments including permit fees and community contributions. If your property is not zoned for the use you envision, we can assist in determining the viability of a municipal rezoning process and will work with municipal staff to negotiate what a rezoning for the property would yield.

After initial budgets and municipal zoning considerations have been discussed, we engage a design architect to come up with initial schematic design drawings and seek government support through early discussions and formal applications as the project progresses.

Pre-development funding, or “seed” funding, can be applied for and accessed through a number of programs, but this process can be onerous and limiting. A major benefit of our business model is that we can front all pre-development costs right through to construction take-out financing. We assume this risk and remove the barriers around seed funding to keep the project consistently moving through the approval process. We are only repaid third-party costs with interest upon the project advancing to construction through the interim construction loan.

TL Housing Solutions has experience in modelling and planning for the full spectrum of the housing continuum. From shelter housing for the homeless and at-risk though to home ownership, determining which option is right will depend on your project goals, deliverables back to your organization and the project’s ability to align with the criteria of current funding incentives.

Generally, the development process for non-market housing is similar to market housing, but typically more time-consuming throughout design development. There are extra layers of review and milestones required of funding programs for the design, society structure, and budget. It also depends on our partners’ familiarity with the process. We work with many societies and community groups that aren’t typical housing providers, which requires more time and education from the onset. In these instances, it is typical of a community group to organize a committee among its members or staff on a volunteer basis to represent the society, often in addition to regular day-to-day work. The committee will have its own internal reporting structure so responses and decision-making can be constrained; ultimately adding to initial timelines. TL Housing Solutions understands this, and works with these societies sensitive to their needs, required milestones, and overall project schedule.

You can certainly plan for this. If the goals of your organization are to provide services for a specific subset of the population, we will assist you in identifying and applying for specialized funding opportunities to meet your goals for the project and its programming.

Yes, primarily in urban centers. Funding providers, municipal officials, and developers alike support the integration of social enterprise opportunities with non-market housing. Successful projects in urban areas often include engaging street frontages that welcome the wider community and provide vibrant and much-needed community services or amenities.

This does not mean that your organization may be left to manage and operate the commercial space. We can assist with aligning the project with other community minded organizations or participate in a joint venture to facilitate a stratification and sale of the space which can often bolster the projects viability, affordability and successful uptake in local approvals and community.