Affordable, accessible rentals difficult to find
Arvid Kuhnle is excited that he can get around the bed in his new apartment with his wheelchair.
Kuhnle has been a paraplegic for 38 years. In most of the apartments where he has lived, there was not enough space in the bedroom for him to navigate around a bed. He waited four years to get into his new home, a low-income rental in a building run by the Knights of Columbus.
The unit was carpeted when he first saw it, so he raised a concern about the difficulties that poses for someone who uses a wheelchair. The Knights of Columbus listened to his concern, tore out the rugs and installed laminate flooring throughout, he said. “And I have to tell you, years of putting up with rugs, suddenly to be able to freewheel around on laminate is such a relief. It feels like a weight has been lifted from me.”
As chair of the accessibility committee for Spinal Cord Injury Sask., he is aware of the daily challenges its members face — and he wants to also give “kudos” to the organizations that are doing what they can, he said.
“A lot of them are doing great things, but there’s slippage in the cracks on a few of them. But not everybody is making those efforts, and not always in a timely manner.”
His observation is echoed elsewhere in the community.
A recent report from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Access and Equality for Renters in Receipt of Public Assistance: A Report to Stakeholders, identified lack of accessible housing as one of the obstacles faced by people with low incomes.
The commission noted the majority of accessible units in Saskatoon are available through the Saskatoon Housing Authority, but the number is “very limited.”
“Certainly right now, there are limited numbers of accessible housing,” said Launel Scott, executive director of Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan’s Saskatoon branch.
“And that is kind of the first step,” Scott added.
The organization is working with a couple of builders, including on the development of an accessible condominium.
However, Scott said not everyone is equally interested in providing accessibility.
“Yes, some people are more willing to invest, but there are not a lot of grants available,” she said.
Some are available through the provincial and federal governments.
Social Services Minister Paul Merriman met with the human rights commissioner to discuss the report on May 25. He said he thinks the human rights commission was pointing out that affordable, accessible housing has a low vacancy rate.
“We do have a lot of housing that we consider accessible,” Merriman said.
According to him, 9,000 of the more than 18,000 houses in the Sask. Housing program across the province are considered accessible, including 1,200 in Saskatoon and just under 1,700 in Regina.
He said landlords can apply to the Sask. Home Repair program for an ‘adaptation for independence’ grant to make their properties accessible.
“It’s a little challenging to have a house out there that is quote-endquote ‘for a disability’ because a disability has such a wide range, so we rather work on kind of a caseby-case basis with our clients and the landlords to be able to meet their specific needs,” Merriman said.
Chanda Lockhart, executive officer of the Saskatchewan Landlord Association, said there’s “definitely” a lack of low-income accessible housing in the province. She suggests more funding should be provided to landlords to retrofit properties, or for new builds.
“There’s a vacancy in Saskatoon right now, so perhaps not building more, but renovating existing stock to give people accessibility would be wonderful,” she said.
The amount of accessible housing in general is low, not just affordable units, Lockhart noted.
The issue isn’t limited to Saskatchewan.
Public feedback for the National Housing Strategy indicated a lack of accessible, affordable housing, and people raised concerns about the affordability of safe rental accommodations, said Saskatoon West MP Sherri Benson.
She’s also heard from builders about the high costs associated with making units accessible. Often, the cost is passed on to renters, she said.
“I think the thing we have to be clear about is that a lot of us are going to need accessible housing,” Benson said, pointing to the aging population. In the long run, ensuring that people can have accessible, affordable housing will be less costly than keeping them in institutions or in care, she said.
Nicholas Fraser, director of inclusion with the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living, said the issues raised in the human rights commission’s report reflect what SACL staff see. The association supports people living with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, and its clients include some people who also have physical disabilities.
Typically in market-based housing, people living with disabilities have a hard time finding units that meet their needs, whether it’s affordability or units that are safe and in good repair, or accessible, he said.
Kuhnle said what may be missing at the design stage of accessible units is that the draftspeople may not have a lot of insight about what certain things will mean for the end user.
In his experience, he’s come across some features in apartments that posed an accessibility challenge, such as doorways that weren’t wide enough or balconies that couldn’t be accessed without difficulty.
He’s a recipient of the low-income rental supplement and in a low-income unit, but he still pays 50 per cent of his disability income for rent. At his last apartment, he was paying hundreds of dollars more.
Kuhnle speaks highly of the management of his new apartment, and their willingness to accommodate his needs.
“Each effort is to be applauded, and it’s not one size fits all. Willingness to accommodate is the precious gemstone of what leads to true accessibility,” Kuhnle said.
Willingness to accommodate is the precious gemstone of what leads to true accessibility.