Working to Make Rental Happen for Seniors

Richmond Hill breakfast focuses experts on rental options

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 25, 2014
By Laura Finney

There is a lack of affordable housing in York Region and that has some people concerned about the impact it will have on the senior population.

“We have very limited housing options in York Region,” said Lisa Gonsalves, managing director, strategies and partnerships branch, community and health services department, Regional Municipality of York.

She said York has a lot of single-family detached homes and there is work to increase the number of higher density buildings, such as condos.

But a lot of the housing market is geared toward home ownership and not to rentals, which may not be affordable to a growing senior population as they look to downsize.

“If we want to keep seniors in our community, we need to find ways to find other housing options,” Gonsalves said.

Last week, the region, in partnership with the human services planning board of York Region, held a Make Rental Happen for Seniors breakfast in Richmond Hill with key stakeholders to explore why more rental options are needed, how to design and build homes for seniors and how to create more housing options for seniors.

“If you want to create communities where you have a range of people living in them, you want to make sure we have a good range of housing,” Gonsalves said.

The breakfast at the McConaghy Seniors Centre included guest speakers, networking opportunities and table discussions.

Gonsalves said the event created awareness about this issue and encouraged participants to think outside of the box when thinking of housing solutions.

“We have to think of new ways of changing - not just always thinking we have to build new,” she said.

Guest speaker Christine Pacini, a founding partner with SHS Consulting, talked about re-purposing existing buildings, such as schools or hotels as housing options.

Another speaker, Jim Galloway, director of development with Abbeyfield Canada, talked about how Abbeyfield builds and operates homes for seniors in local communities.

Gonsalves said the event went well and along with raising awareness, she said she hopes it will help encourage developers to build more rental units in York Region.

“The whole goal is that by increasing supply of rentals, we will create market conditions that will make things more affordable,” she said.

The event was run with support from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and was co-sponsored by Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

It was attended by developers, seniors groups, local municipalities and schools.

For more information about Make Rental Happen, visit york.ca