$3.2M going to Kingston after meeting provincial housing targets

The latest installment from the Building Faster Fund comes after the City exceed their targets by 26 percent.

The City of Kingston is being rewarded for the number of new homes being built.

They are receiving $3.2 million in the final installment of the province's Building Faster Fund.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack was in Kingston on Friday to announce the funding.

He says Kingston is one of the fastest cities in the province in building new homes.

Also at the news conference inside City Hall were Mayor Bryan Paterson, Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu, Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP John Jordan, Deputy Mayor Wendy Stephen, and Councillors Conny Glenn, Vincent Cinanni, Paul Chaves, and Jimmy Hassan.

Paterson says this latest funding from the province shows that Kingston has made great strides to meet the housing demand.

With the removal of the HST on new home sales, it is expected that housing prices will start to go down making it affordable especially for those who are buying a home for the first time.

Flack says his government is doing what it can to make home ownership more achieveable.

Municipalities had use their funding within a three-year period or give any left over amount back to the province. The province is now allowing municipalities, including Kingston, up to the end of 2028 to use up the funding.

Flack says this will give them more time to lay the foundation so that developers start building homes.

Paterson says the funding from the province means the City will be able to get more work done on infrastructure without impacting the budget.

Story by Ken Hashizume