Yorkton, Saskatchewan. –

In an effort to address the shortage of available housing in the community, the City of Yorkton has launched a housing incentive program where new builders will receive a 50 percent discount on residential land and a total tax exemption for five years.

“Basically, you apply and you pay the regular lot price. When you build, we reimburse you 50 percent of that initial price, and all of those lands in the city are already serviced,” explained the city’s current mayor, Mitch Hippsley.

The idea for the incentive came from the city’s economic development committee and was first presented earlier this year.

“We have more companies from the agricultural industry coming to Yorkton, international companies. It brings more business and it creates a lot more jobs,” Hippsley said.

“These people who are moving here obviously need a place to live, and that’s what’s taking up all the housing availability. We have to go. “It’s extremely important if we want people to settle here.”

The incentive applies to approximately 70 city-owned residential lots in developments including CJ Houston Place, Riverside Meadows, Riverside Terrace and York Landing.

A local developer who is building a 4-unit townhouse said the initiative piqued his interest.

“We looked at other private land in the city and decided on this new development (York Landing),” said homebuilder Andy Katzberg.

“There were municipal incentives such as the five-year tax abatement and a 50 percent reduction on the purchase price of land that started to make real sense. »

Katzberg told CTV News this is his fourth development in Yorkton, but the first construction eligible for the incentive.

“Obviously when you build, it’s all dollars and cents, and I guess land acquisition is no different. It was basically the best deal in town,” he said.

“It’s difficult to build now. There are a lot of factors that come into play, whether it’s costs, labor shortages, all kinds of things, but ultimately you just have to dive in and go for it.

Currently, the number of residential lots available in the city is low compared to similar cities across the province, said Corey Werner, broker and owner of Core Real Estate.

“There are about 75 active listings that we are on. These are listings that do not have a conditional offer,” Werner said.

“It would be a little higher because some have listings with strings attached, but comparing us to Swift Current, their active inventory is currently around 136 listings.”

How to solve the housing problem in the city?

Werner explained how it is essential to have new construction in a city to attract future buyers and renters.

“When you build new construction, it shows economically that your city is a strong, viable community. It still has an impact, it’s a bit like new car syndrome,” he said.

“If you have a product that’s on the market, it usually attracts new people to the market. By not building new construction, we are essentially losing two or even three additional sales because there are always upgrades going on.

Besides the incentive, Werner shared suggestions on how to address the city’s housing shortage.

“I really think the city needs to look at looking at secondary suites, even alleyway units, creating higher density housing,” he said.

“If you look at some of the bigger cities, they’re trying to build a smaller footprint house, two stories, with a detached garage. I know we have some of this style of construction. I think the city also needs to adapt to different building styles.

While the Bank of Canada recently reduced the interest rate from 4.25 per cent to 3.75 per cent, Werner said this could potentially help future homeowners and residents.

“Another thing that I think is going to help with the new construction is that the Bank of Canada just lowered their mortgage rate, so that’s definitely going to help,” Werner said.

“I think we’re back to a more normalized interest rate. Those good days, around 1.9 percent, weren’t as realistic, but I think the interest rate they’re going down to is going to help cushion that a bit.

“I hope we can see more confidence among buyers and take that step toward buying or building a home.”