Ottawa is facing a critical shortage of low- and middle-income housing units, according to the Centretown organization that’s the city’s main supplier of affordable housing.
The ongoing condo construction boom in downtown Ottawa will soon make it difficult for residents to find affordable housing in Centretown, says Ray Sullivan, executive director of the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation.
“Almost no one is building any new low-income housing units, because return on investment isn’t as fast as it is for high-end units,” Sullivan says.
Ottawa’s 2011 Annual Development Report indicates that only 8.6 per cent of new housing units built last year were considered “affordable,” down from 9.2 per cent in 2010.
“Many Centretown renters would like to buy a home, but they can’t afford it,” Sullivan says. “So what do they do? They buy a home in Barrhaven instead. Suddenly, the Queensway’s all clogged up every morning because people live too far to walk or bike to work . . . That just doesn’t work with the city’s vision for a more green, accessible downtown core.”
According to Sullivan, two out of five Ottawa renters cannot afford their rental costs and half of them pay more for their rent than their gross income reasonably allows for. The condo boom makes it difficult for new housing developments to be affordable and for non-profit rental developers like CCOC to buy land.
“It also makes it harder for regular folks looking to rent to be able to afford condos, because their speculative value is so high,” he says.
For Sullivan, the answer lies in extending lower interest rates to buyers and to change mortgage eligibility policies. But others think developers can play a helpful role as well.
“There is going to have to be some give and take,” says Rob Dekker, vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association. “The condo developers need to recognize that affordable housing is key to ensure that we can keep a mix of people who want to live downtown and can afford to live downtown.”
The government also has a role to play, he says.
“As Ottawa grows, the number of people who live in the streets or in the shelters grows,” Dekker says. “It’s important for us as a community, as a municipality and as a humanity to make sure that we look after those who have those needs, through a cooperation of all levels of government.”
About $43 million in combined federal, provincial and municipal funding was allocated in January to help build new affordable rental housing units and to repair existing ones over the next few years.
In May, combined funding of $145 million was also pledged province-wide to build new affordable housing units for seniors, persons with disabilities and low-income families, according to an announcement through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement.
The aim of that funding is to build 1,282 units in 27 developments across Ontario.
Some of that money is already helping out in Centretown, where CCOC recently inaugurated one of its most successful housing projects yet. The Beaver Barracks development, located on Metcalfe, Argyle and Catherine streets, has 254 affordable units.
“The Beaver Barracks has been an amazing city project on affordable housing,” Dekker says, “but where they have property to put more of these types of buildings, I just don’t know.”