Report On Affordable Housing Documents Concerns

On page sixty three of Where's Home? you'll find the following statement:

"Thus, Hamilton offers one of the most affordable rental markets in southern Ontario."

That conclusion is gleaned from data that the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada have put together in their annual report analyzing 22 housing markets across the province.

The report looks at average incomes for different occupations and then plots those incomes against average rents using the traditional 30% rent to income ratio that is generally accepted these days as what one should spend on housing as a portion of income.

What does that mean in our City? A chart shows that elementary teachers and carpenters can afford the average rent which is pegged at $824 for a two bedroom in the Hamilton Census Measurement Area.

But how about a data entry clerk, for example? That individual's $27,565 annual income could afford a one bedroom ($666 average) but not a two bedroom.

Or a single pensioner's $1,253 monthly income would suggest $376 as appropriate rent but that won't be able to find much with the average bachelor going for at $511 per month in our city.

Affordable?

To the statement above, then, my answer would be most affordable to whom? Clearly, not affordable to those individuals in some of the occupations cited above. The sad fact though, is that tenants in other Southern Ontario cities fare much worse than Hamilton tenants.

Other Hamilton data in the report:

**Hamilton has lost 543 units of rental housing in the ten year period from 1999.

**139 rental units have been completed on average each year for the past five years, much below what is needed but still up from the previous five years when the average was 23 per year.

**While our vacancy rate is going up (now at 4.0%) much of that increase is in properties renting for under $500 which the report points out are often older units in need of repair.

This is an excellent document well worth reading. You can find it at www.onpha.on.ca

SOCIAL HOUSING WAIT LISTS INCREASE DRAMATICALLY

The Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) reported earlier this month that waiting lists for social housing in Ontario jumped almost ten percent in just one year.

Almost 142,000 households are currently on these lists in Ontario. According to ONPHA Executive Director Sharad Kerur this represents the most significant increase since the organization has been collecting the data. (The full report can be found at www.onpha.on.ca)

In Hamilton the social housing waiting list swelled to 5,045 from 4,166 an increase of over 21%.

This is the largest increase in the province among big municipalities. It is hard to see things improving until we start building truly affordable housing.

Housing advocates are hoping a long term affordable housing strategy promised by the provincial government will address waiting lists and other matters related to affordable housing.

Announcements on the new strategy are expected in June.

An advocates group called the Housing Network of Ontario has created a Five Test Plan for the government's much anticipated strategy.

To pass the five tests a plan will need to effectively reduce and eventually eliminate housing-related poverty, build equitable, inclusive and thriving communities, and help strengthen Ontario’s economy through long-term job creation and lowering the social costs associated with poverty. (More information on the five tests can be found at http://stableandaffordable.com/