Redefining affordable housing
Advocate worries new 90-unit development could alter perceptions of rental costs
The first phase of a new 90unit residential development of affordable housing in Charlottetown is set to welcome its first tenants on Aug. 1, but a Charlottetown housing advocate worries it could change the definition of affordable.
The project by Ironwood Estates received a $19.2-million low-cost loan from the federal government as part of its ongoing efforts to counter the housing crisis in Canada.
While there is a need for housing at all levels, this project is meant to address a lack of rental options for middle class earners, said Ahmed Hussen, federal minister of families, children and social development and the minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
“We know that ensuring housing affordability is not a quick fix. It needs consistent and substantial investments and a long-term plan,” he said. “Firefighters, paramedics, teachers, construction workers — those people themselves are being forced to move further and further away in search of affordable rental units.”
PROJECT
The first of the three fourstorey buildings, which will be completed for Aug. 1, will have 30 units, eight of which are barrier-free or accessible.
Of those barrier-free units, four will be one-bedroom and the rest will be two-bedroom.
Phase two, opening in 2022, will have the remaining 60 units, with another 16 accessible units, for a total of 24.
Livingston said two of the buildings will have common rooms for tenants to “meet and have activities” while the other building will house a common fitness centre to be used by all tenants.
Rent will range from around $1,385 to $1,485 and include heat, lights and air conditioning.
Those rents will be held at affordable levels for 10 years, while at least 17 units in Phase 1 and 23 units in Phase 2 will be held for 21 years.
In October 2020, the market rate for one-bedroom apartments was $819, while for two-bedroom apartments it was $978, according to the CMHC.
Despite these rents being between 51.8 to 69.1 per cent higher than those market rates, they are still considered affordable units according to the CMHC, said Charlottetown MP Sean Casey.
“Under the program … rent at those levels is less than 30 per cent of the median household income in Charlottetown, so when you compare it to the income levels in this community, that meets the definition with CMHC for affordable housing.”
According to the CMHC website’s, the median household income for Charlottetown in 2016 was $63,577, while the most recent data available from Statistics Canada has the median individual income for Charlottetown in 2019 at $36,320.
REDEFINING
That’s a problem, said Connor Kelly, tenant network coordinator with P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing.
“They’re saying this is affordable, so everybody’s going to think $1,385 is affordable and people get used to the idea.”
That could lead to folks, like minimum wage workers, believing it’s their fault they can’t afford the price of housing, he said.
“It’s not personal responsibility at all. This is the system just going completely against the interests of people who are making minimum wage.”
Instead of basing housing projects on median income, they should focus on those most vulnerable populations, said Kelly.
“All these policies should be made from the bottom up, not just from the middle of the target.”
Kelly also takes issue with how long the units will be affordable and how accessible they really are.
“It’s accessible to people who can afford (that expensive) accessible unit, but most people who have accessibility needs are also going to have income needs.”