Are Barrie’s affordable-housing strategies spinning their wheels?
While city councillors approved a motion Tuesday evening to accept, in principle, the affordable housing monitoring report and affordable housing strategy report card, there were as many questions as answers.
“We’ve so much more work to do on affordable housing,” said Coun. Keenan Aylwin. “I think this report importantly highlights the need for more deeply affordable units through social housing, which is the responsibility of the County (of Simcoe), but I think we hear from the county that we need more significant capital funding from higher levels of government (federal, provincial), who have the funding power to do so.
“I’m hoping we can continue to push for more of those social housing units that we so desperately need," he added.
The two reports, which came from Barrie planning staff, say the city has made significant progress toward achieving its goal of 840 affordable housing units by 2025, however the cost of rent and home ownership remains high for middle- and low-income households in Barrie.
Market home ownership prices have grown by a 30.6 per cent for single-family homes, 30.3 per cent for townhomes and 16.4 per cent for condominium units from October 2020 to October 2021, and vacancy rates and overall supply of rental housing remain low.
Coun. Clare Riepma praised the report, but not its message.
“It’s very discouraging to me,” said the Ward 1 councillor. “Rental vacancy is really low, we have no means of keeping rental rates affordable, and we need to look at our strategy.
“In Ward 1, we have quite a few second suites and we have quite a few accessory suites and not a one is anywhere near affordable," he added. "All of the work we did on getting those things (affordable housing incentives) added to our zoning bylaw have been for naught.”
Nearly half — or 47 per cent — of all affordable housing units built within the city since 2015 are unfunded second suites that have been estimated based on the county’s discount rate, and there is no mechanism in place to keep these affordable as time moves along, the report says.
The city’s goal with new residential development is that 10 per cent of the units should be affordable housing.
“We’re not making 10 (per cent). We’re probably not even making one (per cent) at this point,” Riepma said.
The 2021 affordable housing monitoring report says there is a continued need for both additional, deeply affordable rental units for low-income households, as well as workforce rental and affordable homeownership options.
This is further compounded by the extremely hot housing market in Barrie, and the difficulty of securing affordability during the long term, particularly with home ownership, the report says.
The affordable housing strategy report card shows that while the city has implemented many of the original actions identified in 2015, new policy contexts, challenges, and changing housing needs indicate that it’s time to revisit the strategy and ensure it continues to serve as a road map for providing more affordable housing options.
Riepma did say he was encouraged by the suggestion that a cash-in-lieu program could replace the goal for a percentage of new units built being affordable housing. This could be a flat fee per unit or the difference between market and affordable housing rates. The money could go toward affordable housing projects.
Acting Mayor Barry Ward took the discussion an entirely different way.
“There’s no mention anywhere in the report about boarding houses, rooming houses and I think they do play a role in at least getting people off the street,” he said. “They’re maybe not glamorous or a long-term solution, but they certainly play a role. And I’m wondering whether we ever track the number of rooming-house or boarding-house beds that we have in Barrie at any one time and if they’re increasing, decreasing.
“And philosophically why they aren’t included in these kind of reports.”
“The current strategy didn’t really reflect that type of housing and so again that is something that we can look at including in the updated strategy,” said Michelle Banfield, the city’s director of development services.
Barrie’s Official Plan defines two types of affordable housing.
In the case of ownership housing, it’s the least expensive of housing for which the purchase price results in annual accommodation costs which don’t exceed 30 per cent of gross annual household income for low- and moderate-income households, or housing for which the purchase price is at least 10 per cent below the average purchase price of a resale unit in the regional market area.
In the case of rental housing, it’s the least expensive of a unit for which the rent doesn’t exceed 30 per cent of gross annual household income for low- and moderate-income households, or a unit for which the rent is at or below the average market rent of a unit in the regional market area.
As of 2021, Barrie’s goal of 840 new affordable housing units has been surpassed, with 965 of these units being created since the affordable housing strategy’s inception. However, should the County of Simcoe’s discount rate for unfunded second suites be applied, the total number of new affordable units would be 712.
There are 4,228 of what the city calls purpose-built rental units in the primary rental market in Barrie as of October 2021. This is an increase of 38 rental units from 2020.
In 2021, Barrie gained 93 affordable housing units, including three ownership units and 90 rental units. Despite these gains, Barrie continues to see the cost of rent and home ownership climb, making it increasingly difficult to find homes for both the hardest to house in this community and working individuals.
The County of Simcoe is the designated service manager for the city according to the Housing Services Act, 2011. The county is responsible for planning, funding and managing social housing programs and homelessness services. Barrie can encourage and facilitate the provisions of affordable housing through initiatives, programs and policies, however the city does not provide or manage housing.
Barrie’s housing affordability task force’s recommendations include allowing housing as a right on large, well-located, commercially zoned properties, eliminating parking standards entirely for affordable, rental, supportive and social housing, offering public land to non-profit and charitable housing providers and builders, and looking at tiny homes. It also recommends pursuing hotel, motel conversions to create supportive housing communities, have one city planner dedicated to oversee and ensure the delivery of Barrie’s affordable housing strategy and taking $5 million from the city’s community benefit reserve for a new supportive housing capital fund.
Barrie city council will consider final approval of the motion to accept, in principle, the affordable housing monitoring report and affordable housing strategy report card at its June 6 meeting.
