[homeles_ot-l] Research on Housing First - accessing scattered sites through housing allowances

[Rob MacDonald]

It may be true that other provinces have rent supplement program, but
housing advocates across the country have had their concerns about how they
are implemented into the system and whether they are doing more harm than
good.  BC, for example has two supplement programs, one for seniors and one
for families.  Everyone else gets left out.

In my own experience I have seen landlords evict or 'transfer' tenants
unwillingly so that they can renovate the unit or allegedly move into it
themselves.  There is no security of tenure for tenants and they can be
evicted for a slew of reasons that may have nothing to do with their
behaviour.

Rent supplements can also be a lottery for landlords in provinces that have
weak rent control, since landlords can raise rents as much as they want and
take advantage of supplements. In Ontario, there is no limit to the rent
increase a landlord can take in a new tenancy.

A number of U.S. studies have also proven conclusively that market rents
increased substantially for non-supplemented low-income tenants who lived
nearby.  The Susin report studied 90large metropolitan cities where housing
vouchers were introduced.  The main finding was was that "those areas with
more vouchers experienced faster rent increases than those where areas
vouchers were less abundant."  It estimated that the shelter allowance
system actually raised rents by an average of 16 per cent.  THe vouchers
caused an 8.2 billion increase in total rent paid by low income tenants
while only providing a subsidy of 5.8 billion, ersulting in a net loss of
2.4 billion to low income households.

According to the Wellesley Institute, "supplements inflate rents for all
tenants, not just those receiving subsidies..  The economic cost outweighs
the economic value."

It must also be said that shelter allowance do nothing to alleviate the
scarcity of housing. As the vacancy rate has dropped in Ottawa, landlords
will be charging more for rents, and people with low incomes have no choice
but to pay extravagant rents without assurances of adequate maintenance.  A
social housing program, on the other hand, will increase the supply.


On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 3:53 PM, John Dickie <JDickie at dickieandlyman.com>
wrote:

> Many provinces other than Ontario use portable housing allowances, or
> housing benefits, which can be used for scattered sites.
>
>
>
> The City of Ottawa now has a successful pilot project using portable
> housing allowances to expand the housing options for homeless people.
> Expanding housing allowances would be a significant positive in the fight
> against homelessness, and in improving housing affordability.
>
>
>
> John
>
> John Dickie
> Chair, Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization
> 640-1600 Carling Ave.
> Ottawa ON  K1Z 1G3
> Tel. 613-235-0101 Fax 613-238-0101
> http://www.eolo.ca/
>
> EOLO represents the owners and managers of more than 36,000 residential
> rental suites in Ottawa.  Founded in 1990, EOLO's members include some of
> the largest landlords in Ontario, as well as many small and medium size
> landlords.
>
> *From:* homeles_ot-l [mailto:homeles_ot-l-bounces at list.web.net] *On
> Behalf Of *M Laplante
> *Sent:* June 23, 2014 3:49 PM
> *To:* Tim D. Aubry
> *Cc:* Alliance Listserv
> *Subject:* Re: [homeles_ot-l] Research on Housing First
>
>
>
> Thank you for distributing this.  I notice that Pathways to Housing's
> original scattered-site requirement seems to have become optional somewhere
> along the way with a variety of different implementations and studies.
>  There seems to be a wide spectrum of approaches that adopt some elements
> of Housing First and not others, making it difficult to determine which
> features are essential.  Without Section 8 vouchers in Canada,
> scattered-site may be more difficult to implement, but it might be
> essential.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 6:29 AM, Tim D. Aubry <taubry at uottawa.ca> wrote:
>
> I have recently received several requests about the research literature on
> Housing First.
>
>
>
> FYI, please find attached a book chapter reviewing the literature that we
> wrote and appears in the recently published book “Homelessness and Health
> in Canada” (edited by Manal Guirguis, Ryan MacNeil, and Stephen Hwang).
> Please note that the full book is available open access at
> http://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/homelessness-health-canada  .
>
>
>
> Our book chapter was written before the final report on the findings of
> the At Home / Chez Soi project were released.  So I am also attaching a
> .pdf of the final report.
>
>
>
> Tim Aubry Ph.D, C.Psych.
>
> Professeur / Professor
>
> École de psychologie / School of Psychology
>
> Chercheur / Senior Researcher
>
> Centre de recherche sur les services éducatifs / Centre for Research on
> Educational and Community Services
>
> Chaire de recherche facultaire en santé mentale communautaire et
> l'itinérance /
>
> Faculty Research Chair in Community Mental Health and Homelessness
>
> Faculté des sciences sociales / Faculty of Social Sciences
>
> Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
>
> Vanier Hall, 5002J
>
> Ottawa, ON
>
> K1N 6N5
>
> Tel.: 613-562-5800 x 4815
>
> Fax: 613-562-5188
>
> E-mail: taubry at uottawa.ca
>
> Bio: http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/psy/eng/profdetails.asp?id=137
>
> Twitter: @TimAubry
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
>
>
> PLEASE ADD OUR ADDRESS,
> homeles_ot-l at list.web.net
> to your email contact list.
>
> THEN email your homelessness and housing messages to that address to reach
> the full list or to reply to a posting.
>
> This list is not moderated; there is no editorial review.
>
> Please try to keep messages to 200KB or less, including attachments, so
> that all subscribers are able to receive them.
>
> The listserv does not permit Blind copy, BCC addresses or the use of too
> many Send To addresses. The best thing is to email to this list on its own.
>
> The Alliance to End Homelessness does not verify the accuracy of submitted
> messages nor necessarily endorse the opinions expressed by message authors.
> Message authors are solely responsible for content of their messages.
>
>


-- 
Rob MacDonald,
Advocate for Tenants

"*There can be no fairness or justice in a society in which some live in
homelessness, or in the shadow of that risk, while others cannot even
imagine it.” *
―Jordan Flaherty
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