Region calls for changes to Housing Services Act

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

Regional council is calling for changes to the province’s proposed Housing Services Act.

At their most recent meeting sitting as committee of the whole, councillors recommended the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s (MMAH) Community Housing Renewal Strategy, which replaced the former Social Housing Modernization initiative, and the Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy, receive a few tweaks.

The new plan is meant to stabilize and grow the community housing sector.

It proposes several amendments to the Housing Services Act which pertain to social housing wait lists, community safety and rent-geared-to-income (RGI) simplification.

In a report given to the committee of the whole, Durham’s commissioner of finance Nancy Taylor said changes to each of these categories will improve the strategy.

For social housing wait lists, Taylor writes, “Although the proposed changes are largely positive, they do nothing to address the limitations on the wait list imposed by the provincially-mandated special priority policy (SPP).”

Applicants to Durham Access to Social Housing who are SPP have priority over all other applicants.

SPP applicants are victims of human trafficking or abuse, and meet specified requirements.

She notes while these priority applicants make up only about five per cent of the region’s social housing wait list, they comprised all but one of the non-senior applicants housed in 2018. They also comprised all of those housed in 2017.

According to Taylor, families in Durham under this priority policy wait approximately 69 weeks for RGI housing on average, and single non-seniors wait almost three years.

Taylor recommends SPP applicants be addressed outside of service manager wait lists.

The commissioner of finance writes this will meet the immediate needs of this group, and will allow service managers “to better address the needs of chronological applicants and locally identified priorities on their wait lists.”

MMAH has proposed housing providers be permitted to refuse to offer RGI housing to applicants on the wait list if they had previously been evicted for a serious criminal offence.

“The proposed change is intended to help reduce crime and gang-related violence in community housing so that all residents feel safer in their homes. Although not identified as a wide-spread issue in Durham, the proposed change is largely supported by housing providers,” writes Taylor.

The third change from MMAH is to move to an annual taxed base calculation of subsidy effective July 1, 2021.

According to Taylor, the intent of these changes is to make RGI calculation easier for tenants to understand, as well as to make RGI simpler to administer for housing providers.

The changes will also “Remove disincentives for tenants to work and become economically self-sufficient.”

Taylor also writes the change will promote greater consistency in how RGI is calculated across service areas.

Taylor proposes MMAH work with service managers to determine the financial impact of the proposed RGI simplification changes. This includes strategies for mitigation or compensation of these costs.

Taylor also recommends the RGI scales for social assistance households be revised to align maximum shelter allowances for Ontario Works and the Ontario Disabled Support Program.

MMAH is currently seeking comments about the proposed changes before July 1.

The recommend changes will be presented to regional council at their next meeting on June 26.