In May 2002, there were roughly 13,000 Ottawa households on the Social Housing Registry, the waiting list for households seeking access to affordable housing. 46% of these households are families with children, while 33% are unattached singles and 13% are seniors. (70% of these households have incomes of less than $20,000 a year, yet the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit is $692, and for a two-bedroom unit is $914.)
The registry received 25,000 housing inquiries last year, yet as the waiting list shows, the need for affordable housing is far greater than can be satisfied by the rental units currently available. (In Ottawa, new rental housing is not being built fast enough. Since 1995, fewer than 200 rental units have been built each year, while rents have increased by 25%.) A local vacancy rate of less than 2% indicates a genuine housing scramble, especially for lower priced units.
Who needs affordable housing? The working poor, those unable to find or keep employment, recent immigrants, single parents, seniors receiving government income assistance - all these groups are vying for an insufficient number of affordable housing units.
What can be done to encourage the building of more affordable housing? How can housing be made more affordable to those on limited incomes? Where can people be affordably housed? Since June, the St John's Affordable Housing Committee has been investigating housing issues and initiatives. Leaflets in upcoming weeks will highlight current efforts by government, communities, and faith groups to alleviate the affordable housing shortage, and will suggest possible directions for further action.
With notes from "Creating a Legacy: An Action Plan for Affordable Housing for the New City of Ottawa"
In 2001, the Ottawa Mennonite Church (OMC) acted on the acute need for affordable housing for refugee families. Financed by donations from members of OMC and Emmanuel United Church, private loans, mortgage financing, and a grant from the City of Ottawa (under the City's housing program), the OMC purchased three housing units. With the aid of subsidies from the OMC and Glebe-St James United Church, refugee families are now being housed on a small and supportable scale.
While the OMC project is a major one, there are many small components within it. Individuals and communities can contribute to rental subsidies, which enable the OMC to improve the properties, and hopefully in the future, to acquire more affordable housing units. Support can also come in the form of assistance for tenants on issues of health, banking, schooling, or job acquisition. With secure, affordable housing, families can focus on long-term goals, and should be able to move on to either public or private housing in the future.
St John's sponsors a number of refugee families and housing is always a particular challenge. Does the OMC provide a model for an affordable housing project you would like to see at St John's? Or should St John's consider supporting the work of the Ottawa Mennonite Church?
In response to the ongoing shortage of affordable housing in Ottawa, members of many faith groups have joined together to form The Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI). Active since January 2002, the MHI operates under this mission statement:
The Multifaith Housing Initiative represents many people of faith committed to facilitating the provision of adequate, accessible, and affordable home space for those who otherwise cannot meet their basic needs and to encouraging programs which nurture persons within their communities.
The St John's Affordable Housing Committee actively participates in The Multifaith Housing Initiative which has its own web site:
www.multifaithhousing.ca.
The MHI provides advice and support for parishes interested in adopting housing programs. One such program involves matching home space providers with those in need. Many homeowners have more housing space than they require, and could benefit from the companionship and income of renting space to a suitable tenant. Volunteers could assist homeowners in carefully selecting tenants and monitoring compatibility.
A particularly important group who needs housing are students. With the double cohort graduating this spring, the need for student housing will increase dramatically. Housing a student frees up low cost housing for others in need.
There are also short term housing needs for refugees who arrive in Canada and need temporary accommodation until a suitable apartment or house is found.
Do you have extra space in your house? Would you consider renting home space, even on a short-term basis, to a compatible student, refugee, or other low income person?
Adequate housing is part of the City of Ottawa's Draft Official Plan which is currently under discussion. The City's Housing Backgrounder notes the following: "The cost of creating a new rental unit is close to $100,000 or more; adding a suite in an existing house can be accomplished for a fraction of this cost. The City wishes to encourage and support this form of intensification, both as a way to address the need for rental supply and for affordable units." The City is also considering the possibility of providing financial assistance. The secondary suite option also reduces the need for new infrastructure. Presently, secondary suites and apartments can only be built in certain areas - the City is proposing a by-law permitting these in all areas. NIMBYs are against such action.
The Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI) is promoting faith community action on affordable housing and building secondary suites is an important way to help. For members of congregations with excess space but who require their own privacy, creating private secondary suites within their own homes can be an attractive option. It can provide both added income and privacy and at the same time assist a person or family in need of affordable housing.
Have your children left home? Do you have extra space in your house? Is the development of a secondary suite a housing option you would like to find out more about?
We know that the population of Ottawa is aging. Ten years ago, the supply of social housing for seniors exceeded demand, but the need has expanded at twice the rate of any other category. From February 2000 to April 2001, the waiting list for seniors grew by forty-seven percent.
Seniors want to maintain their independence for as long as possible whether it is in their own homes, perhaps with adaptations, in some sort of supportive housing, or in a placement close to family and friends.
Some cities have worked out solutions. Senior citizen equity cooperatives in Vancouver, usually purchased by home owners wishing to maintain their equity, have been built at the rate of one or two a year. Low-cost condominiums in Toronto, without luxury frills such as swimming pools, sell for fifteen to twenty percent below market price. Limoges, in the County of Prescott and Russell, is looking at providing capital support and rent-geared-to-income for a non-profit cooperative project.
From 1973 to 1995, the federal government's non-profit housing program helped provide housing for the poor, who paid rent at 30% geared to their income. In 1994, the federal government passed this responsibility to the province, who in 1995 passed it on to the municipalities without providing funds to do so. The number of new rental units reduced to fewer than 200 per year and the waiting list for affordable housing in Ottawa grew from 1,500 in 1985 to 13,000 households in May 2002.
In late 2001, the federal government committed $680 million over five years to affordable housing. This will be allocated through a one-time capital grant of up to $25,000 per affordable housing unit, if matched by the provinces. The province of Quebec has agreed to match the federal sum while initial indications are that Ontario will agree to provide a mere $2,000 per housing unit, while asking municipalities and charitable organizations to provide the remaining amount. The City of Ottawa has agreed to provide $23,000 in kind contribution. To date, none of this money has been made available in Ontario since the province has responsibility for allocating the federal money and Ontario has yet to announce the funding guidelines.
This funding will barely make a dent in addressing the need. The Speech from the Throne indicated a possibility of more funding - this is desperately needed. The question is: Will this commitment translate into new dollars in the federal Budget?
Would you be willing to write to the Ontario government to urge the province to release the federal affordable housing dollars and to provide its matching share of $25,000? Would you be willing to write to the federal government to encourage it to allocate additional funds to affordable housing and to put pressure on the Ontario government to release the money already allocated?
The St John’s Affordable Housing Committee has presented a series of thoughtful summaries on some key issues related to affordable housing. You have read these multi-coloured inserts to the Sunday bulletin. Now we want your opinions and your vision.
If you know someone whose walls are “closing in” because of rent increases, if students, immigrants, refugees, even members of your family desperate for affordable housing are known to you - then you are involved. Even if you don’t know someone, are you concerned about the affordable housing crisis? Help us identify how St John’s can be part of the solution by spending a few minutes to respond to this survey.
The parish survey form is available here in as a PDF file:
The Affordable Housing Committee have started the "Loblaws Gift Card Program" for our members. For more details see the separate webpage on this program.
If you have an interest in helping to find solutions to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing in Ottawa, please join us. For further information regarding this important parish initiative, please contact Gay Richardson at 730-4404.
You can help!
The Framework Agreement on the sale of the St John's parking lot provides for the option to purchase up to 40 units in the new apartment building being constructed by Teron Inc. for the purpose of alleviating the effects of poverty through affordable rental housing.
See our separate page on Affordable Rental Housing for ways you can help.