Modular builds, multi-unit: Habitat for Humanity considers new approaches

With P.E.I.'s housing crisis growing worse and labour shortages continuing, Habitat for Humanity is working on new approaches to providing homes for its partner families.

Habitat is a charity that brings communities together to build homes for people who need them.

The group is currently working on four modular builds in eastern P.E.I., two in Georgetown and two in Souris. Modular homes arrive in pieces from a factory. Completed rooms are connected together and hooked up to services to construct the home.

Modular builds allow a home to come together more quickly and require less skilled labour, which is in short supply, to complete. But it also creates particular issues for Habitat.

"The challenge for us is how do we engage with community and volunteers when we change our build form," said Pam Montgomery, CEO of Habitat for Humanity P.E.I.

"Traditionally, groups that volunteer with us and individuals that volunteer with us want that hands-on, pound-the-nails, raise-the-roof type of experience, and that's become more difficult for us to provide."

That difficulty is not just due to modular builds. Federal building codes, new efficiency guidelines, and insurance requirements for safety have all combined to make building with volunteer labour more complicated.

Following the experience of the four current modular builds, Habitat is working with its supplier to provide less finished modules, which could provide more opportunities for partner families and community members to work on the build.

Habitat is also working on two traditional builds in Harrington, north of Charlottetown.

After a near shutdown during the pandemic it's great to be building again, said Montgomery.

Ways to build more

Habitat is reconsidering its traditional strategy of building single-family homes.

"We know what we need to do, to increase our impact, is look how do we build more: like, high-density or multi-unit builds," said Montgomery.

"It could be townhouses, it could be condo units, it could be something like that, because we know that's what communities need."

The planning for this strategy is still in the early stages, so it is difficult to say exactly what it might look like, but the goal would still be for families to own their own home.

Keeping more out of landfills

Habitat's ReStore started a new service last month aiming to save kitchen cabinets and other home fixtures during renovations.

"So for instance, if you're looking at renovating your kitchen, you could call us and we'll go in and take your cupboards out, take them and offer you a tax receipt for that donation to our ReStore," said Montgomery.

"That allows your contractor to get in there without having to do the demolition work first and speeds up the process."

The ReStore in Charlottetown has for years collected reusable building materials, furniture and appliances, providing inexpensive alternatives for customers and diverting material from landfills. Last year ReStore diverted about 345 tonnes of material from P.E.I. landfills.