INFO UPDATE Town of Osoyoos Near-Market Housing Program

The Town of Osoyoos is inviting interested families to apply under Council’s approved Near-Market Housing (NMAH) Program.  The first designated area for applying to the Program is the subdivision south of the new Fire Hall.  The Program required that the builder who purchase subdivision lots set aside 15% of their completed homes as affordable units and sell each of them at a 15% discount below appraised value to eligible households, as approved by the Town’s citizen-volunteer Affordable Housing Authority (AHA).  Preference will be given to younger working families especially those with school-age children, and depending upon the number of applicants a waiting list may be generated.  Program recipients can only resell their homes at a controlled profit within a 5-year time period to keep them in the affordable housing pool.
  
The 26-lot Richter subdivision is well under construction with 4 locations of near market housing lots to be interspaced among the full-market housing. The Town has sold all the lots to  Hart Buckendahl of Osoyoos-based, Ellcar Construction to build their “Meadowlark Place” housing development.  All single-family homes will be built on narrow frontage lots to save land and servicing costs but are ample-sized to accommodate two-storey, 2400 sq. ft. homes for family living.  A tot lot will be included in the subdivision.

An affordable home application form can be accessed on the Town’s website "Near-Market Housing Meadowlark Place" and may be submitted digitally or by hand to the undersigned.  The site also contains Council’s NMAH program guidelines, the subdivision plan including the first two affordable home locations, and architect-designed house examples from Ellcar Construction.  All affordable homes will be identical to comparable market units though some interior details may differ. All affordable homes will be reasonably priced 15% below appraised market value. 

This exciting new public-private enterprise will expand home choices for current and possibly future Osoyoos families to assist community, social and economic sustainability, and return taxpayer value for use of public lands.