News

The introduction of new mortgage qualification rules on January 1, 2018, raises many questions for aspiring homeowners who might fear having to curb their ambitions.

While the requirements are now more stringent to qualify for a mortgage with a lender, the Accès Condos financial tool represents an even more opportune lever for many Montrealers who want to buy a home and settle in Montréal.

Since the tightening of the rules to avoid over-indebtedness of households, all borrowers, whether they have a large or a small down payment, must now show that they have the capacity to repay their mortgage in the event of an increase of their interest rate. To do this, the bank will offer a current mortgage rate as part of the loan, but will qualify its client based on the Bank of Canada’s five-year benchmark rate.

The Accès Condos financial tool can therefore help you for several reasons:

• Thanks to the sharing of risks between the developer and the SHDM which accredits the projects, the condos are offered at affordable prices without any compromise on the quality of the building. For example, the prices of the condos offered at Faubourg Contrecœur Phase 5 range from $169,900 (including taxes) for the 1 BDR units and $214,298 (including taxes) for the 2 BDR units.
• A purchase credit of 10% of the condo price applicable to the down payment is offered to home buyers, which enables them to reduce their monthly mortgage payments and facilitate their mortgage approval.
• The initial contribution from buyers is only $1,000, which gives them more flexibility to increase their down payment and reduce the amount of their mortgage.

All these advantages give additional leeway to buyers who have the desire and capability to acquire a condominium, by allowing them to reduce the amount for which they must now qualify.

Note that Accès Condos is a program that accredits affordable, high-quality residential projects and provides buyers with a 10% purchase credit on the condo’s purchase value, enabling them to buy with only a $1,000 deposit and at the same time reduce their monthly mortgage payments.

Since its creation in 2005, SHDM’s Accès Condos Program has enabled more than 3,600 households to acquire a quality property at very competitive prices while staying in Montréal. This program does even more. It contributes to the revitalization of neighbourhoods in a sustainable way, by the creation of dynamic living environments. For more information, visit accescondos.org

Carinne, a proud Montrealer and owner of an Accès Condos accredited unit in the Ville-Marie borough, testifies to her experience in acquiring her condo and explains her main motivations.

Learn about the Accès Condos program, a financial tool developed by the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal in 2005, and which has enabled more than 3,600 households to be become home owners in Montréal.

The program is based on a partnership with developers and offers to buyers of Accès Condos accredited units financial assistance in the form of a 10% purchase credit, thereby reducing their down payment to $1,000.

To know more about the Accès Condos program, visit: http://accescondos.org/en/

Currently, several Accès Condos accredited one- and two-bedroom units are for sale in the Faubourg Contrecœur Phase 5 project in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

The construction of Îlot Balmoral on Place des Festivals continues in order for the new building to welcome its first tenants in early 2019, including the headquarters of the National Film Board which will occupy six of the 13 floors available for rent.

Developed by the SHDM team and designed by the firm of architects Provencher_Roy, this ambitious and innovative project intrigues and arouses a lot of interest from architecture enthusiasts and Montrealers who are happy to see the construction of a flagship building in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles. Among them, Shawn Grenier — a young photography student from Cégep du Vieux Montréal to whom we gave the opportunity to take his first steps as a professional photographer in a photo essay —was able to sketch the craftsmen of the work site in their daily tasks.

See some of Montréal’s landmarks like you’ve never seen them before, such as the Musée d’art contemporain (MACM), the Place des Arts or downtown rooftops, thanks to the photographs of this young artist. And you too can be challenged by the scale game that emerges between the magnitude of the city and the Îlot Balmoral project and the human dimension of the site with its workers, who bolt after bolt, screw after screw, build with their expert hands a part of the future landscape of our famous festivals!

If you wish to have more information on spaces available for rent, visit our Îlot Balmoral web page.

 

2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the SHDM ! This is the perfect moment to thank you for your trust and to express our very best wishes for the new year.

Take a moment to watch this short video in which our employees show their gratefulness to the entire SHDM community.

This summer, several tenants of the SHDM had the pleasure of participating in greening, horticulture and urban agriculture projects.

Watch this short video to see our tenants, our very own horticulture team and Sentier Urbain and Ville en vert’s teams in action. Join the movement next summer and create a living environments that are dynamic, vibrant and green.

Fostering the spirit of good neighbourliness, increasing the sense of belonging and control over the living environment and creating a place for sharing knowledge are all objectives set by the SHDM through the implementation of these greening and urban agriculture projects in its rental properties. What’s more, they enable tenants to reduce their grocery bill with their crops.

To secure assistance for these mobilization projects, the SHDM mandated two organizations specialized in urban agriculture and community outreach, namely Ville en vert and Sentier Urbain. These organizations conducted a series of planting and gardening workshops and provided tenants with on-site support throughout the summer to build beautiful community gardens and vegetable gardens in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough and in the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.

At the same time, the SHDM own horticulture team continued its work with the tenant community of its Autonomie+, rental buildings, which are reserved for autonomous people aged 55 and over. Nearly ten urban vegetable gardens are now available to these tenants. “Developing the green thumbs of our tenants not only allows us to improve their living environment and contribute to their quality of life, but it also ensures the sustainability of horticultural development projects from year to year. It is certainly an added value for our tenants” explained Lorraine, horticulturist at the SHDM.

The SHDM thanks Sentier urbain, Ville en vert and the Société de développement d’habitation communautaire (SODHAC), external manager for the SHDM, for their professionalism in carrying out the mandates granted to them for this project.

Community life and autonomy, the choice of Pamela – Living in Montréal has many advantages, such as being close to shops and services, the dynamic cultural offer, and the diversity of the people we meet. The SHDM Autonomie + buildings, for autonomous people aged 55 and over, enable aging people to take advantage of these urban amenities while benefiting from the solidarity and complicity with neighbours who are sharing the same lifestyle. Pamela, a tenant of the SHDM, explains her housing choice and the reasons why her apartment will be her “last stop.” (video in French only)

About autonomie+ housing units – The SHDM owns 16 Autonomie+ rental complexes totalling more than 1,100 housing units for an autonomous clientele aged 55 and over. In addition to providing affordable rents below the market price, the Autonomie+ communities help to counter isolation and provide dynamic living environments for retired people.

Autonomie + buildings complement the range of choices available to aging but still physically active tenants in Montréal who are looking for an alternative to multigenerational neighbourhoods or certified seniors’ residences that offer fee-based services.

In addition to a dedicated and professional team to manage and maintain the buildings, our Autonomie+ properties have the following amenities: concrete structures, elevators, access ramps, emergency repairs service, secure access, laundry room, recreation room, garden or terrace.

 

Video credit: Marie-Hélène Beaudry