[homeles_ot-l] Media Release: Ottawa renters still pay fourth highest 2-bedroom rate in Canada

Wed Jun 6 17:37:48 EDT 2007

Hello everyone,

The Alliance to End Homelessness has just sent out a media release, below
and attached, focusing on how Ottawa fares in the Spring CMHC Rental Market
Report. 

Unfortunately, the news is not good for those struggling to become or remain
housed in our community. You are welcome to distribute or use the
information. 

Lynne Browne 
Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness 
147 Besserer Street, Ottawa ON  K1N 6A7 
613-241-7913 x 205, lbrowne at ysb.on.ca 
www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca 

For immediate release — Text below attached.

Ottawa renters still pay fourth highest 2-bedroom rate in Canada 

CMHC rental survey reveals increasing trouble for Ottawa renters

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) today released its new Spring
Rental Market Report, a national survey of the rental housing market.
Unfortunately, it shows that Ottawa’s average two-bedroom rents increased by
2.1% up to $961 from $941 a month, with Toronto at $1,073, Vancouver at
$1,053 and Calgary at $1,037.

Other average rents in Ottawa are up too. A bachelor is now $649, up from
$633; a 1-bedroom is now $793, up from 774. The vacancy rate will also have
a negative impact; it slipped again, down to 2.2% from 2.3% in Ottawa and
down to 2.8% from 4.2% in Gatineau. 

“The lack of affordable housing in Ottawa and throughout the province has a
profoundly negative impact on the social and economic well-being of many
people in our community," said Mary-Martha Hale, Chair of the Alliance to
End Homelessness in Ottawa.  “A single parent with two children earning
$1,387 gross a month at a full-time, minimum wage ($8 an hour) job will now
have to pay $20 more a month to rent a 2-bedroom apartment.”

The lowest-income households in Ontario are predominantly renters; in fact,
36% of tenant households live at or below the poverty line. The current
Ontario government promised to restore rent control on vacant units and
failed to deliver. Higher rents makes it more difficult for low, moderate
and middle-income households to pay the rent, plus cover the cost of food,
utilities, medicine, transportation and other necessities.

“We need to invest in our community now by quickly creating a large amount
of new affordable housing. In Ottawa in 2006, there were 10,055 low-income
households on the waiting list for social housing and 4,054 of those
households included children,” explained Hale. “At the same time, we need to
improve low incomes with an immediate minimum wage increase to at least $10
an hour and a return to pre-1995 rate levels for Ontario Works and Ontario
Disability Support Program Benefits. Lack of affordable housing and
extremely low incomes are the story behind the 9,010 people who used an
emergency shelter in 2006.”

The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa is a coalition of community
agencies and concerned individuals committed to working collaboratively to
end homelessness by gaining and promoting a better understanding of
homelessness and advocating for strategies to end it.

- 30 –

For more information:

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness

613-241-7913, ext 205, Cell 613-513-6647

HYPERLINK "mailto:lbrowne at ysb.on.ca"lbrowne at ysb.on.ca

Backgrounder follows.

***********************

Ontario Housing Affordability

Backgrounder to the Spring 2007 CMHC rental market survey:

*     36% of Ontario’s tenant households are living at or below the “poverty
line”HYPERLINK \l "BM__edn1"[i]

*     While renters accounted for 33.5% of all Ontario CMA households in
2001, they comprised 67.9% of households in core housing needHYPERLINK \l
"BM__edn2"[ii], a significantly disproportionate share – and affordability
is the predominant cause of core housing needHYPERLINK \l "BM__edn3"[iii]

*     42% of Ontario tenant households (564,735 out of 1,338,850) pay 30% or
more of their household income on shelter costsHYPERLINK \l "BM__edn4"[iv]

*     20% of Ontario tenant households (265,995 out of 1,338,850) pay 50%
and over of their household income on shelter costsHYPERLINK \l
"BM__edn5"[v]; the risk for homelessness increases where rental costs
consume more than 50% of pre-tax household income for a tenant household

*     The median income of Ontario’s renter households is less than half of
homeowner households ($66,382 vs. $32,194)HYPERLINK \l "BM__edn6"[vi]. An
affordable monthly rent for half of Ontario’s tenant households would be
$805 and below (based on CMHC’s definition of affordable, i.e. costing less
than 30% of before-tax household income).

*     There were 122,426 low-income households across Ontario on the active
waiting lists for social housing at the beginning of 2006.HYPERLINK \l
"BM__edn7"[vii] Among the 36 Service Managers which track applicant incomes,
80% of the low-income households on their waiting lists had gross incomes
below $20,000 and, therefore, could not afford monthly rent of more than
$500.HYPERLINK \l "BM__edn8"[viii]

*     According to the 2006 Where’s Home report produced by ONPHA and CHF,
there was a net loss of 13,061 rental housing units in 21 of Ontario’s major
municipalities in the decade between 1995 and 2005.HYPERLINK \l
"BM__edn9"[ix]

*     According to the April 2007 CMHC rental market survey, vacancy rates
decreased in 4 of the 11 Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), increased
in 6 of the 11 CMAs and remained unchanged in one (Hamilton).  The overall
vacancy rate in Ontario increased to 3.9% in April 2007 from 3.4% in October
2006.

*     According to the April 2007 CMHC rental market survey, two-bedroom
rents increased in 8 of the 11 Ontario CMAs, except  for Kingston (rent
decreased by $2, from $841 to $839), Thunder Bay (rent decreased by $3, from
$696 to $693), and Windsor (rent decreased by $5, from $774 to $768)

*     According to the April 2007 CMHC rental market survey, one-bedroom
rents increased in 10 out of the 11 Ontario CMAs, except for Windsor
(decrease from $650 to $648 – a $2 difference).

   _____  

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref1"[i] According to a 2001 Census custom tabulation
prepared for Green Communities Canada, there are 759,590 households in
Ontario with at least one low-income person present (using Statistics
Canada’s pre-tax, post-transfer payment Low-income Cutoffs or LICOs to
define low income.  Persons or families living at or below these income
levels are widely considered to be living in straitened circumstances.  Both
the Canadian Council on Social Development and the National Council of
Welfare have adopted the Statistics Canada pre-tax, post-transfer payment
LICOs as poverty lines).  Of the 759,590 low-income households, 490,485 (or
65%) are tenant households and 269,095 (or 35%) are homeowner households. 

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref2"[ii]  2001 Census Housing Series: Issue 4 Revised
– Canada’s Metropolitan Areas.  May 2004.  The Ontario-specific core housing
need figures were provided by John Engeland (Senior Researcher, Housing
Indicators and Demographics, Policy and Research Division, Canada Mortgage
and Housing Corporation) by personal communication, November 18, 2005.

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref3"[iii]  Canadian households are considered to be in
core housing need if they do not live in and could not access acceptable
housing; the term “acceptable housing” refers to housing that is:

*         affordable (costs less than 30% of before-tax household income),

*          in adequate condition (not requiring major repairs), and

*         of suitable size (not crowded, enough bedrooms for size and
make-up of resident households)

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref4"[iv]  Table:  Household type (4), Tenure (5) and
Housing Affordability (4) for Private Households with household income
greater than zero, in non-farm, non-reserve private dwellings, for Canada,
Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations,
2001 Census – 20% Sample Data.  Ottawa:  Statistics Canada, May 13, 2003.
2001 Census of Canada.  Catalogue number 95F0444XCB01004.

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref5"[v] Table:  Gross Rent as a Percentage of 2000
Household Income (10), Age Groups of Primary Household Maintainer (8) and
Household Type (4) for Private Households With Household Income Greater than
Zero, in Tenant-occupied Private Non-farm, Non-reserve Dwellings, for
Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census
Agglomerations, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data.  Ottawa: Statistics Canada,
May 13, 2003. 2001 Census of Canada. Catalogue number 97F0021XCB01008.

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref6"[vi] Table title: Household Income Groups (14A),
Owner's Major Payments (13), Housing Affordability for Owners (4), Condition
of Dwelling (4), Household Type (4) and Tenure (3) for Private Households
With Household Income Greater than Zero, in Owner-occupied Private Non-farm,
Non-reserve Dwellings, for Canada, Provinces, Territories and Census
Metropolitan Areas, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data . Ottawa: Statistics
Canada, May 13, 2003. 2001 Census of Canada. Catalogue number
97F0021XCB01010

and

Table title: Household Income Groups (14B), Gross Rent (13), Housing
Affordability for Tenants (4), Condition of Dwelling (4) and Household Type
(4) for Private Households With Household Income Greater than Zero, in
Tenant-occupied Private Non-farm, Non-reserve Dwellings, for Canada,
Provinces, Territories and Census Metropolitan Areas, 2001 Census - 20%
Sample Data. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, May 13, 2003. 2001 Census of Canada.
Catalogue number 97F0021XCB01011. 

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref7"[vii] Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association’s
2006 Report on Waiting List Statistics for Ontario.  April, 2006.  Page 3.

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref8"[viii] Ibid, Page 7.

HYPERLINK \l "BM__ednref9"[ix] Where’s Home?  2006: A Picture of Housing
Needs in Ontario.  Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association & Co-operative
Housing Federation of Canada – Ontario Region.  Pages 25-26.

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