City programs aimed at facilitating home ownership and improvements

Residents of Kingston and Frontenac County are invited to take advantage of two programs aimed at helping make homeownership and necessary home improvements more affordable.

According to a release from the City of Kingston, the programs are as follows: 

• Become a homeowner with down payment assistance from the Home Ownership Program. 
• Improve the accessibility of your home or complete urgent repairs with support from the Kingston-Frontenac Renovates Program. 

“These programs target renter households that can afford the monthly cost of homeownership but are unable to assemble the down payment and existing homeowners that need financial assistance to complete urgent repairs or accessibility improvements so that they can stay in their home,” said Ruth Noordegraaf, Director of Housing and Social Services. “Both programs are components of the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan which includes a variety of housing and homelessness strategies across the housing continuum.” 

The city provided the following information:

About the Home Ownership Program: Down payment assistance  

The Home Ownership Program helps Kingston and County of Frontenac renters with low-to-moderate incomes purchase a home by offering down payment assistance up to a maximum of 10 per cent of the purchase price. Interested community members can review the program’s eligibility criteria on the Home Ownership Program webpage.  

About Kingston-Frontenac Renovates: Home improvement assistance 

The Kingston Frontenac Renovates Program offers low-to-moderate income households up to $10,000 for emergency repairs and up to $5,000 for renovations that make their home accessible. Eligible repairs may include, but are not limited to, furnace or window replacement, roof repair or replacement, foundation work, and accessibility ramp or lift installations. Interested community members can review the program’s eligibility criteria on the Kingston-Frontenac Renovates Program webpage.  

How to apply:

Homeowners – or soon-to-be homeowners – can find eligibility criteria and application forms for both the programs at CityofKingston.ca/Housing. Kingston-Frontenac Renovates applications are now being accepted and Home Ownership applications will be accepted starting Monday, Mar. 14, 2022. Funding is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the city. 

Applications may be submitted:  

• By mail to City of Kingston, Housing and Social Services at 362 Montreal St., Kingston, Ont., K7K 3H5 
• In person to main reception on the second floor at 362 Montreal St.  

Questions?  Email [email protected] or call 613-546-2695, ext. 4949. 

Increasing housing affordability is one of Council’s strategic priorities.