More affordable housing could save City money: analysis
Friday, February 18, 2005 - John Driscoll
The result of improved incomes and adequate affordable housing would be a healthier, more stable community with less expenditure on policing, health services and emergency shelters, according to a Peterborough housing needs analysis.

The housing needs analysis released last year by the City outlines a wide range of immediate and future housing needs in Peterborough. "A strong commitment from all levels of government, the private sector, service agencies and local communities to work together” is needed, the analysis concludes.

There are solid social, economic and health reasons for building adequate housing, according to the analysis. A higher proportion of smaller dwelling units is needed to accommodate the increasing numbers of singles, seniors and non-family households, because of the shrinking size of the average household, according to the analysis.

The City is developing several strategies to address the need for adequate housing. Two projects to build 90 units of affordable housing in Peterborough will make a small dint in the long list of those waiting for affordable housing, according to Henry Clarke, chairman of the city’s housing committee.

There are currently 1,400 applications representing 5,000 people on that list, says Clarke.

“We are nibbling away at the waiting list but there is so much left to do,” Clarke says.

The Woollen Mill project initiated by the City in the former Sir Sandford Fleming property on McDonnnel Street has gone to tender and will provide a mixture of 50 affordable housing units for families, singles, seniors and people with disabilities, Clarke says.

Another project on Dutton Road is in the design phase and will offer 40 units through the Peterborough Housing Corporation.

“We are doing what we can but what we consistently lack is a national housing policy,” Clarke says.

The analysis calls for 218 affordable housing units a year to be built annually for the next five years. The bulk of needs are likely to be met by the private sector, the analysis states.

The analysis makes it clear that families and individuals on fixed income are finding it increasingly difficult to find adequate affordable housing in the private housing market.

At the same time, the demand for emergency and temporary housing has been “exploding”, according to the analysis.

There have been virtually no affordable housing units built in the past decade and city council is trying to get builders involved by offering tax incentives, loans and waiving of development and other fees for projects dedicated to affordable housing, Clarke says.

The lack of affordable housing is rooted in poverty, with 25 per cent of Peterborough residents spending more than 50 per cent of their income on rent, the analysis states.

“The ultimate solution is grounded in raising market incomes,” states a report from the Toronto Dominion Bank on affordable housing, quoted in the analysis.