Affordable housing should be made human right, York Region town hall meeting suggests

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 17, 2016
By Lisa Queen

Governments should declare affordable housing a basic human right, which would hopefully force them to follow through with effective programs to ensure everyone has a roof over their head.

That was one of the recommendations made at a town hall meeting in Newmarket Wednesday night hosted by Liberal MPs, where about 75 residents gathered to discuss the benefits of a national housing strategy.

“I think the first step should be (to get) the Canadian government to make affordable housing and housing a human right, definitely,” said Woodbridge resident Humberto Leon-Bermudez during a round table discussion session as Woodbridge resident Carina Manansala and Markham Councillor Amanda Collucci nodded.

Collucci agreed.

“Housing should be declared as a basic human right and, therefore, policies and regulations should be there and address that,” she said.

“In practicality, finding housing that’s affordable and within means is near impossible. It feels unattainable.”

Affordable housing needs to be clearly defined so people aren’t spending more than 25 per cent of their disposable income on accommodation, Collucci said.

Affordable housing should be no less a basic human right in Canada than universal health care and education, one woman said.

But while people at the meeting may feel that way, societal attitudes are often different, said Thornhill’s Mark McAlister.

“The difficulty with meetings of this kind is they tend to attract people with this sort of statement. The issue we’re facing is there are many people in York Region who do not agree with this vision,” he said.

“'If you can’t afford to live here, don’t live here.’ I think it’s a very deeply ingrained attitude in our neighbourhoods and in our ratepayers’ associations.”

Housing affordability is a significant concern in York Region, said Adelina Urbanski, the region’s commissioner of community and health services.

Between 2005 and 2015, the price of an average resale home jumped 103.5 per cent but the hourly wage only inched up 18.3 per cent during the same time, she said.

Last year, the average cost of a resale condo in the region was $366,283, while for a resale townhouse it was $575,283. For a resale detached house it was $943,441 and for a newly built detached house it was $988,638.

Prices have only gone even higher this year, Urbanski said.

Participants came up with a number of strategies to address the lack of affordable housing, including forcing municipalities to allow basement apartments in homes, providing programs to make it easier for homeowners to add secondary suites, providing incentives to developers to provide more rental housing and have residential housing added to new commercial developments.

Any talk of housing must be tied to precarious employment, one woman said.

“Half of the people in York Region have uncertain job security so they don’t have full-time positions. They don’t have benefits. When they are applying for jobs, they are all part-time,” she said.

“(Also), foreign investments are inflating the prices in the market. A surtax may help.”

New subdivisions should include a mix of housing types to stop creating ghettos of only one income level in a neighbourhood, said Taucha Inrig of Markham, adding collaboration between governments, the private sector, non-profit agencies and communities is needed.

“We need integrated communities with diverse (housing) so nobody feels left out,” she added.