City launches Better Homes Ottawa – Loan Program to help homeowners make energy efficiency improvements
Through the new Better Homes Ottawa – Loan Program, homeowners can get a zero-interest loan of up to the lesser of $125,000 or 10 per cent of the current value of their home to cover the cost of home energy improvements. Measures eligible for financing through the program include: Basement, attic and exterior wall insulation…
Read More38th Annual Housing Design Awards – And the winner is…….
By: Anita Murray, All Things Home | November 19, 2021 Inviting new homes, clever renovations, sophisticated kitchens and bathrooms, unexpected housing details: In a year that could have seen reduced interest thanks to the upheaval and distraction of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ottawa designers, builders and renovators found a way to carry on, finishing enough projects to enter…
Read MoreOntario Needs One Million New Homes in the Next Ten Years
New research shows that over the next decade, 83,000 homes need to be built in Ottawa to keep up with a growing number of new families. Ontario’s population is growing rapidly, which will require the building of one million new homes in the next ten years. Baby Needs a New Home, a new research paper…
Read MoreOutdoor Kitchen Renovations
Summer is in full swing and with the warm weather and easing of COVID-19 restrictions comes opportunities for outdoor living and entertaining. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have all your summer meals outdoors, especially when the days are long and the sun stays in the sky long into the evening? That’s right — we’re talking…
Read MoreBuild Your Ideal Career
The residential construction industry is facing a significant shortfall in skilled labour in the coming years. According to BuildForce Canada, our industry will have to hire over 100,000 new skilled workers in the coming decade across the country to address mass retirements as our workforce ages – or 20% of the entire skilled workforce. In…
Read MoreVacant But Uninhabitable
Council recently directed City Staff to develop a residential Vacant Unit Tax based on staff’s framework and a review of similar regimes elsewhere. Staff’s recommendation is a 1% tax on properties if they are vacant for more than 184 (cumulative) days during the previous calendar year, which would mean a $4,150 bill on a $415,000…
Read MoreThe Right Countertop
Your kitchen is about to be renovated. It will be fantastic. It will be beautiful, functional, bright. It will be a happy place. You’re about to choose colours and cabinets and flooring, and… oh, wait. Countertops. Now what? How do you know what you want? You might look through magazines, and surf the Internet or…
Read MoreRenoMark® Renovators go virtual to support Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa
The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) has been raising funds for Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa through its RenoMark® Reno Tour for six years, but the annual home renovation event took on a whole new look in 2020. Reno Tour, which typically offers consumers the opportunity to visit homes across Ottawa that have been…
Read MoreWant Affordability? Get Supply.
For over a year now I’ve been talking about the need for Ottawa to be building homes Up, In and Out. Our population is expected to increase by 400,000 people from 2018 to 2046 (or 40% growth from our current 1 million residents). How are we ever going to supply enough homes to meet our…
Read MoreThe Perfect Front Porch
Spring walks are a great opportunity to take advantage of nice weather. They’re also the time you start to notice which homes in your neighborhood have the most appealing exteriors. Sometimes, that lovely look is simply a beautifully built and designed front porch. Is your home ready for this endearing feature? A RenoMark Renovator knows…
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