Housing
A public policy issue because governments have a responsibility to provide citizens with the prerequisites of health.
Housing Insecurity
A precursor to homelessness.
Housing First Approach
People experiencing homelessness should be given access to housing without any conditions. Numerous studies have shown its effectiveness in reducing homelessness and providing long-term housing stability, especially for people experiencing chronic homelessness.
Treatment First Approach
Require people to abstain from drugs and alcohol and adhere to treatment programs to become eligible for independent housing. Generally fails because it is extremely difficult for people to get treatment and recover from addiction if they don’t have stable housing.
4 Canadian Housing Initiatives
1) Whistler Housing Authority
2) New Westminster’s Anti-Renoviction Bylaw
3) Burnaby’s Tenant Assistance Policy
4) Montréal’s Pre-Emptive Right Policy
Whistler Housing Authority
Established to oversee the development, administration and management of price-controlled real estate and employee-restricted housing in Whistler, B.C. It offers properties for both sale and rent, with strict rules on selling prices, and rents that are set at 30 percent of a tenant’s income. Possible because it uses public land. This means that new supply is geared to what residents can afford, not what is most profitable.
New Westminster’s Renoviction Bylaw
Fines landlords up to $1,000 a day. Landlords have to demonstrate it was necessary for the tenant to vacate their unit for renovation work and provide tenants with a written offer to return to the unit at the same price. There were over 300 renovictions 3 years prior to the bylaw, but none the year after.
Burnaby’s Tenant Assistance Policy
1) The right to return to a similar unit at roughly the same rent when the work is finished.
2) The developer or landlord is obliged to help tenants find interim housing if needed.
3) The rezoning applicant must pay a top up fee to cover any additional rental costs tenants incur with their interim housing.
4) Financial assistance to tenants to cover moving costs.
Montéal’s Pre-Emptive Right Policy
The City of Montréal is given the pre-emptive right to acquire property and it has identified 350 properties where it can exercise this right (usually low-rent buildings in gentrifying neighbourhoods). If one of these properties is sold on the open market, the city has 60 days to match that offer and buy the site for the same price agreed by the private buyer.
Rent Control
A set of rules guiding how much and when landlords can increase rent. In most cases, sitting tenants benefit from rent control, but there’s one major loophole, when a tenant leaves, landlords can raise the rent to whatever they want.
Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC)
Sets permitted increases at around one to two percent per year regardless of whether the unit is vacant or occupied.
St. Lawrence
A really important area in Toronto that has a wide range of housing options. All levels collaborating on over 4,000 homes, it has remained a successful neighbourhood over the past 50 years (mixed incomes, mixed backgrounds, and prioritizing pedestrians over cars).
Affordable Housing
No more than 30% of your pre tax income on your rent.
Exclusionary Zoning
Dictating what types of infrastructure can be built on certain lands (usually is zoned for single family homes).
Indwell
Builds high quality but affordable housing. They bid on an old high school in Hamilton but the property was sold to the private sector due to their offer being millions more.
Canada Lands Company (CLC)
A company that requires that 20% of housing projects must be affordable.
City of Kitchener and YW
Got funded to build affordable housing in downtown Kitchener for 41 women who were experiencing homelessness and another 10 units for families.
Whistler Housing Authority
Inventory of non-market housing. Offers affordable rental and home ownership units. Rent geared to income (30% of their income which is the national standard). Employee restricted neighbourhood (people who live and work in Whistler).
Jericho Lands Project
3 Indigenous nations plus Canada Lands Company working together to create a new site in Vancouver that will house approximately 24,000 people (13,000 units and 20% of those will be social housing). It is a generational project.
Renoviction
When landlords try to evict people to renovate buildings and increase rent.
ACORN
Tenants’ rights organization.
First Refusal Bylaw
In Montreal, gives the city the right to buy properties before private developers allowing for more affordable housing, no crazy rent increases/renovictions (protecting community assets).
New Westminster
The city created a policy that would heavily fine landlords for renovictions. This led to a significant drop in renovictions.
Demovictions
When tenants are displaced because their homes are destroyed to make place for new developments.
