Buildings suffered from lack of maintenance, overcrowding

KUUJJUAQ – Run-down social housing units in Kuujjuaq and Salluit will undergo an extreme makeover this year, as part of a 10-year, $400-million overhaul of Nunavik's 2,100 social housing units.

This year, construction workers with Génivar Inc. gutted 22 units in Salluit and 54 in Kuujuaq at a cost of $50 million. They tore down nearly all the walls and put in new wiring, plumbing, insulation, flooring, doors and windows. The units also received new siding, porches and roofs.

Each unit will now have its own entrance as well, a change that's expected to reduce vandalism.

Before the tenants move back into the units in December, new appliances will also be installed.

The condition of the units, only about 20 years old, suffered from the combined impact of little maintenance and overcrowding, says the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau.

Before the renovations started in late July, tenants were asked to vacate their units and put all their belongings into storage containers.

The KMHB offered families and friends a break in their rent if they put up the members of households who had to temporarily move out.

And when the renovated housing units are ready, occupants will get one month's free rent to help make up for the inconvenience of the moves.

Next year, Kuujjuaraapik's social housing units will be renovated. By the time the regional renovation program ends in 2018, every community's stock of social housing will see some major renovations.

Created in 1999, The KHMB oversees about 2,100 social housing units in Nunavik, from studio units to six-bedroom houses, for a total of 9,568 tenants.

The balance of the region's 11,000 residents live mainly in staff housing units owned and maintained by their employers.

After the 10-year drive to renovate aging social housing is completed, the KMHB should be able to maintain its stock of housing with a $7 million to $8 million annual budget.

The KMHB is also planning to launch a program to educate social housing tenants about regular maintenance, said Pierre Roy of the KMHB.