Housing charity Habitat for Humanity will receive four lots on Yellowknife’s Spence Road from the municipality for a one-dollar payment.
Habitat for Humanity NWT generally builds a home or two each year in the territory, the most recent being in Yellowknife and Dettah with another under construction in Hay River.
Families chosen to receive Habitat homes ordinarily contribute some work to the project in return for an affordable house.
The charity hopes to use federal funding to build more homes. Habitat has Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation cash available for five builds in five years, one having been completed already.
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The Spence Road lots, so far unsold by the city, are “part of what we need to be able to have long-term success,” Habitat’s Dave Brothers told city councillors on Monday.
“Four more homes in Yellowknife would be great for the city and the people of the city,” said Brothers.
“Right now, we’re kind-of stagnant because we don’t have a place to put them.”
Ten lots on Spence Road are on the market. Councillors briefly debated whether two of the four lots requested by Habitat should be held back to ensure lots remain available to meet commercial demand. Ultimately, council voted to hand over all four.
The deal is “a real opportunity for all of Yellowknife, and especially families who have struggled up to this point to own their own single family homes,” Councillor Shauna Morgan said.
Each home will have three to four bedrooms. The last is expected to be complete by 2026.
