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The city is set to spend more money next year on maintenance and rehabilitation of social housing, but still far less than is required. Local demand for affordable housing continues to climb, but deterioration of the existing stock trumps the construction of new buildings.
The practice in Hamilton has been to allocate just $500,000 a year for major renovations on over 6000 apartments and houses that would cost 100 times that amount to replace. But a building condition assessment completed this year documented a $32 million shortfall by 2014 and convinced councillors to increase spending, at least for next year.
In the latest draft budget presented last week, staff proposed a $2.5 million contribution from the 2012 capital budget, which together with planned spending from reserves would mean $10.3 million for City Housing Hamilton. That’s still far short of the identified $16.3 million need next year and even further behind the $24.4 million required in 2013.
Some of the city–owned housing dates back to the late 1950s and none at all has been constructed since 1995 when the Conservative Mike Harris government downloaded responsibilities to municipalities without commensurate funding. In the last two years, stimulus funding under the Social Housing Renovation and Retrofit Program (SHRRP) sent $33.8 million to Hamilton. But that funding is finished, and even with it “there was a $20 million shortfall between available funding and needed capital repairs,” says a report given to councillors on November 1.
There are over 14,000 social housing units in Hamilton accommodating more than 30,000 people – nearly half owned by the city and the rest in the hands of non–profit agencies. Over the next five years, local providers estimate they will need to spend $159 million, and that climbs to $282 million over the next decade.
“All social housing providers regardless of their portfolio size are concerned about the age and condition of their buildings,” reported staff on November 1. “[They] report that their capital reserves are insufficient to renew and maintain their housing stock.”
Tom Jackson called those numbers “very disturbing” and his sentiment seemed to be shared by his council colleagues – convincing finance staff to bump up the proposed funding when they returned on November 9 for the second workshop on the capital budget. Copies of the full capital budget are scheduled to be circulated to councillors by November 24, with finalization expected in early December.
The waiting list for affordable housing stood at 5781 families and individuals in September and has been climbing steadily since the start of the 2008 recession. The caseloads for both Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Payments are also continuing to rise, increasing the pressure for more affordable housing.
A report this past summer by the Social Planning and Research Council found that “a full 44 percent of renter households lived in unaffordable housing” in 2006 with nearly half those putting more than 50 percent of their incomes on rent payments.
Capital spending at City Housing Hamilton includes everything from window, door and floor replacements to roofing and plumbing as well as elevator upgrades in the apartment towers owned by the city. Energy retrofitting was a major focus of the SHRRP funding.
Social housing owned by the city is estimated to be worth over $350 million, with a replacement value of half a billion dollars. Annual operating costs are $45 million.
Last week’s draft budget divveyed up $93 million in city funds with $48.5 million of that earmarked to road repair and replacement. With other funding sources such as development charges and water rates that should mean $75 million in road spending in 2012. V
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