6 nations builds quality, affordable housing

Page 20

This is the story of how a First Nation community turned a

less-than-perfect experience to its advantage.

In 1984, the Six Nations band council of Ohsweken, Ont., found itself

with a housing shortage. With financial assistance from Canada Mortgage

and House Corporation, the council built a six-unit apartment building

nine single-family homes.

However, the apartment building fell considerably short of meeting

residents' needs. The stairs posed access problems for people with

physical disabilities and the apartments themselves were too small for

families with young children. At that point, the Six Nations council

took a close, hard look at the way it had managed construction, and

began a series of improvements.

Today, by virtue of commitment, flexibility and willingness to

compromise, the council has evolved a construction management process

that uses the community's own trades people to build housing matched to

residents' needs. What's more, council has managed to ensure that rents

for all community housing are affordable.

The council's first step in its revamped planning process was to focus

on the best design it could afford to build, rather than the "modest"

design specified in federal legislation. The council hired architects

to prepare designs that reflect the actual needs of community members,

including senior and the disabled. The result? Larger, more attractive

housing units, at costs well under CMHC's maximum unit price.

The new construction management process also focuses on hiring labor

and using suppliers from the community. In the 1984 project, less than

25 per cent of the sub-trades were from Ohsweken. In part, this was

because local trades people were not comfortable working with the

construction manager, who came from outside the community.

The policy of withholding payment until work was completed was also a

barrier to small contractors on the reserve, who did not have the

working capital to secure a line of credit for material or labor.

The council surmounted these problems by changing the requirements for

the construction manager position so that community members with

relevant experience would be encouraged to apply. The payment

structure was also revised to allow for regular progress payments.

The upshot of these changes is that construction managers on the last

nine projects have all come from Ohsweken, and at least 95 per cent of

the work is carried out by local sub-contractors and laborers.

Another problem the Six Nations council has resolved is the question of

rental rates. The rates initially specified by CMHC were considerably

higher than those the community was used to. As a result, council had a

hard time attracting tenants to the new units, especially the

single-family homes. Council made renting more attractive by giving

tenants the option to buy their homes after five years. Council would

pay off the loan so that the purchase price of the house would be based

on the construction cost plus the price of the land. The rent that

tenants had paid over the last five years would be credited to the

purchase price.

This filled the homes, but rental rates remained a problem. After much

discussion and persistence on the council's part, CMHC agreed to allow

the Six Nations council to set rates at a break-even level. The sole

provision was that rents not be lower than any others charged in the

community.

The success of the construction management plan is proved not just by

the numbers -- 189 units to date -- buy by the housing itself, which is

comfortable, affordable and matched to residents' needs.

For this achievement, the Six Nations council won an Honorable Mention

in the 1994 CMHC Housing Awards, Process and Management category. The

theme of the 1994 awards is Sharing Successes in Native Housing.

CMHC is Canada's federal housing agency. The Housing Awards are

presented every two years to groups or individuals who have helped

improve access, availability and affordability of housig.