Affordable Housing Development Navigator Project

The Affordable Housing Development Navigator Project supported five non-profit agencies in Dartmouth North to advance their ideas, plans and proposals for the development of new affordable housing units, and generated new information resources, tools, and lessons for the benefit of the Community Housing Sector in the region and the province. Watch the video to learn more and scroll down to find a library of resources.

The project ran from 2021-2022.

Learn more about the project

START HERE: this document outlines all the documents and resources created through this project and available here for you.

B1. Pre-conditions: Social Innovation Lab on Affordable Housing. This document describes the process that created the pre-conditions for the Affordable Housing Development Navigator project and is where the idea for the project began.

B2. AHDN Project Proposal. This details core elements of the project such as the context and goals of the project.

B3. AHDN Project Narrative and the Executive Summary. This document details the AHDN project including: 

  • Part 1 - Initiation Phase: Laying the foundations and building the team

  • Part 2 - Execution Phase: Capacity building sessions for community nonprofits

  • Part 3 - Closure Phase: Sensing into what’s needed next

B4. Mid-Way AHDN Project Reflections, March-June 2022. For this report all participants of the project were interviewed asking questions like: What’s working?/successes; What’s not working?/challenges; and How can we improve this process going forward?

B5. Oversight Committee Terms of Reference. This document gives information about how the Oversight Committee was structured and the role it served for the project.

 

Tools & templates

Resources created by the Navigators/Architects to support early stage development of housing projects by non-profits:

D1. Glossary of Terms: This glossary includes language and concepts used in housing development projects as a guide for folks new to the sector. It’s in both an excel document (that can be revised and added to as a living document) and a PDF.

D2. Phases of Design Graphic: This graphic illustrates the different stages and phases of developing affordable housing. It’s a helpful map to understand the full spectrum of a housing project and where you can find your project on it.

D3. Project Charter Template: The Project Charter is the starting place of any group looking to dive into an affordable housing development project. This can be completed with the team and Board members before taking any further steps. The project charter has been included as both a slide deck and a word document.

D4. Task Tracking & Deliverables Template: This document is a tool to track the major elements of starting an affordable housing project. It covers the process from ideation, through planning to early in design. There is a template as well as an example of how this can be used.

Workshop videos & resources

Here you can find a video series of presentations made by the Navigators/Architects as part of the AHDN Project. This is a series of videos recorded during workshops where a small group of architects shared knowledge and expertise about the early stages of developing affordable housing. See the excel document AHDN Workshop Recording Catalog for descriptions of what to find in each video presentation and associated resources linked.

1. What is a housing development project?

In this video:

  • What's involved in a project like housing development from beginning to middle to end?

  • Model formation.

  • Resources required within project delivery.

  • Framework around beginning, middle and end of development.

**Note: the slides are cut off on this video. We apologize for the inconvenience.

2. The Centre Plan and zoning (Dec 2021)

In this video:

  • Exploring the Halifax Centre Plan online tool.

  • The set of zoning restrictions on what you're allowed to do and build on your property.

  • Why do we have zoning?

  • What's the vision for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in terms of the built environment?

3. Affordability vs. Cost - Affordable Housing Reports (Dec 2021)

In this video:

  • Overview of key concepts from two recent reports on affordable housing in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

  • Includes a conversation about affordability vs. cost.

Resources:

4. Pre-design phase of housing developments

In this video:

  • Definitions of business case and feasibility study

  • Services

  • Goals

  • RAIC resources for reference

Resources:

5. CMHC Presentation on funding for affordable housing development (March 2022)

In this video:

  • CMHC: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation outlines their funding programs and streams

  • National Housing Strategy - Guiding Principles

  • Phases of development and CMHC product offerings

  • Prioritization criteria

  • SEED Funding

  • National Housing Co-Investment Fund

  • Partnerships

  • Successful project examples

  • Questions and discussion: What level of detail is needed for projects to be able to work with CMHC? At what point in the project is support available? Threshold of affordability, Feasibility, 30% non-residential allowed, and the CMHC Innovation fund.

Resources:

6. Cost planning and control

In this video:

  • How construction cost estimating and budgeting form part of the building planning, construction and design process.

  • How and when to utilize different cost strategies and the expected accuracy.

  • Apply this knowledge and understanding to design problems.

  • Questions and discussion

Resources:

7. Schematic design phase of housing development

In this video:

  • Recap of pre-design phase.

  • Discussion about this phase in the development journey.

  • Schematic design phase elements.

Resources:

8. Creating compelling stories

In this video:

Resources:

9. Project teams and contracts

In this video:

  • Difference between engineers and architects.

  • Key value that an architect brings: what is it that architects do?

  • The people on a project, the teams on a project.

  • The design phases in a project.

  • Construction contracts.

  • Project construction delivery methods.

10. Project teams and contracts

In this video: