This text is part of the special Real Estate section
The housing shortage, exacerbated by the real estate escalation, particularly affects households with modest livelihoods, forcing them to devote too much of their income to housing. Hence the importance of increasing the supply of affordable and social housing.
In Quebec, there are three ways to create affordable and social housing: low-cost housing (HLM), managed by municipal housing offices, housing cooperatives and non-profit housing organizations (NPOs). In addition, a distinction must be made between social housing and affordable housing.
In the first case, the tenant’s rent is subsidized by the Rent Supplement Program (PSL) of the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) and is set at 25% of the tenant’s income. In the second case, a dwelling is considered affordable if the rent is equal to or less than 80% of the median market rent (MLR). HLMs only accommodate tenants eligible for the PSL. On the other hand, cooperatives and NPOs tend to offer affordable housing, but also have a certain number of tenants with PSL. Another notable difference, HLMs are created by the government; cooperatives and NPOs come from the community and it is the latter that manages them.
The role of co-ops and NPOs
Could housing cooperatives and housing NPOs contribute more to the construction of affordable and social housing? “We would like to, advances Patrick Préville, general manager of the Fédération de l’habitation coopération du Québec (FHCQ), but the community housing sector is currently underfunded. »
Same story with Chantal Desfossés, Executive Director of the Quebec Network of Housing NPOs (RQOH). “It is becoming more and more difficult to create a new housing NPO,” she laments. Sandra Turgeon, director general of the Quebec Confederation of Housing Cooperatives (CQCH), however, has a downside. “The government would first have to complete the projects that have already been submitted. Of the 15,000 housing units on hold, only about 7,000 have been built. Let’s start with the catch-up. »
Does this mean that the creation of new co-op or non-profit housing is a thing of the past? “Not quite,” says Patrick Préville. We now have co-ops that have a certain financial maturity, which allows them to expand, by buying another building for example. This is a trend that we see developing. An observation confirmed by his two colleagues.
Funding
The construction of affordable and social housing, whether cooperative or non-profit, is mainly financed in Quebec by the SHQ through the AccèsLogis program. A contribution from the community, ranging from 5 to 15% of the cost of the project, is required. Then, AccèsLogis subsidizes the project up to 50% of the costs. The missing sum is provided by the project promoter by taking out a mortgage loan, guaranteed by the SHQ. AccèsLogis also administers the PSL.
Recently, the government of François Legault announced the creation of a new program, the Quebec Affordable Housing Program (PHAQ). Unlike AccèsLogis, the PHAQ is also accessible to private property developers, subject to a commitment to maintain rents at 80% of the LMM for a fixed period. “But what will happen to AccèsLogis now that the PHAQ exists? asks Chantal Desfossés. Is this the end of AccèsLogis? At the moment, we don’t know.”
Sandra Turgeon wonders about the very validity of the PHAQ. “Why would the government, with taxpayers’ money, want to replicate the private housing model to address the affordable housing shortage? »
This is because community housing, whether cooperative or non-profit, offers another version of housing. “We do not conceive of housing as a consumable good, specifies Patrick Préville, but rather as a social good. Not to mention that this type of housing is able to reach target clienteles.
“In our NPOs, notes Chantal Desfossés, 65% of our tenants are over 55 years old. And Sandra Turgeon concludes positively: “We not only offer affordable housing, we also offer a community of life and solidarity. »