Housing crisis | Unsanitary housing, overpriced rents

Municipal elected officials and experts seeking solutions to the housing crisis are meeting this Friday for a Housing Summit

Isabelle Ducas
The Press

A week ago, Omar* was evacuated from his apartment in the Parc-Extension district, in Montreal, because the Regional Public Health Department (DRSP) decreed that the work in progress in his building was dangerous due to the presence of asbestos.

He and three other tenants should have been relocated by the owner of the building, but instead they were taken care of for three days by the Red Cross, before the owner found them a new temporary accommodation, a tiny room and badly airy downtown.

“I live like an itinerant, I spend the whole day outside because I can’t stay in this depressing room, it’s like a prison cell”, laments Omar.

His problems started last February when his building was sold. The new landlord managed to convince 11 tenants to leave their homes, but Omar and three other residents refused. Omar pays $360 a month for a one-and-a-half-room apartment he’s lived in for 14 years.

“I started looking for another apartment in my neighborhood, but 80% of the housing was unsanitary, and the rent was very expensive: $800 for a one-and-a-half-room apartment,” he laments.

So he stayed at home, despite very disturbing demolition work, which began in July, and did not respect health and safety rules.

families camping

Omar’s case is just one example of the effects of the current housing crisis.

According to data from the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), 106 homeless households in Montreal are currently receiving emergency assistance. In all of Quebec, there were about 500 on the 1^er august.

“We receive desperate calls from tenants who are going through tragedies because they can’t find housing,” says Véronique Laflamme, FRAPRU spokesperson.

In some areas, support services are non-existent, and the homeless are left to fend for themselves.

Families are forced to camp with their children, others are crammed into accommodation that is too small or unsanitary because that is all they can afford, elderly people are forced to take roommates or live with their children… Organizations that help tenants hear such stories over and over again.

Not to mention those who must spend more than 50% of their income on housing and who then end up in food banks to feed themselves, adds Ms.^me The flame.

” It is reality ! “, she insists.

A summit to find solutions

Precisely, 300 elected municipal officials and experts in the field are meeting this Friday for a major housing summit in Laval.

“We will address several issues and concrete solutions to be implemented in order to help overcome the crisis we are currently experiencing in housing and which is of great concern to the population, with good reason,” said Catherine Fournier, Mayor of Longueuil and host of the Summit, in a press release.

“With this summit, we want to bring together as many stakeholders as possible so that together we can equip each other and help each other,” declared Stéphane Boyer, Mayor of Laval, who is also hosting the Summit.

According to Véronique Laflamme, even if the municipalities want to act in the field, the main solution is known: Quebec must increase the funding granted to social housing.

“It’s scandalous to see the extent to which the Quebec government has abandoned cities with the problem by not giving them the necessary resources. We can’t get by without government investment,” she says.

“The CAQ had promised 15,000 housing units during the last election campaign, but only a third have actually been built. We’ve been going in circles for four years, and during that time, costs are rising. »

M^me Laflamme wants the provincial political parties to make concrete commitments during this election campaign.

* Our interlocutor wished to remain anonymous, for fear of reprisals from its owner.

Viennese model in housing: A roof for everyone

In the Austrian capital of Vienna, 62% of the population lives in social housing, owned by the city or by subsidized non-profit organisations. On the occasion of the Housing Summit, which is being held this Friday in Laval, participants will have the opportunity to hear the former vice-mayor of Vienna, Maria Vassilakou, present the Viennese model to them. The Press spoke to him on Thursday.

What is the Viennese model?

Maria Vassilakou: It’s an ongoing commitment, for 100 years, to quality and affordable housing for all. At the beginning of the XX^e century, there was a major housing crisis, and the municipal government decided to embark on the most ambitious housing project in Europe at the time. The idea was that everyone could have a roof over their head to live decently. The program targets the middle class, which is the pillar of society.

How does it work ?

MV: There is public housing, which is owned directly by the City, and social housing, which is owned by subsidized non-profit organizations. So housing construction is subsidized, but there is also individual financial assistance for those who cannot pay the rent.

How is this program funded?

MV: By a 1% tax on income, which brings about 350 million euros (450 million dollars) to the City. In total, in the municipal budget, about 500 million euros (645 million dollars) are devoted to social housing each year.

What are the advantages of investing so much in social housing?

MV: The main advantage is that Vienna is a city where people from all socio-economic classes live together, since social housing is for everyone and there is social housing in all areas of the city. There is no ghetto. Additionally, Vienna consistently tops the charts for the best cities to live in, and that’s in large part because of affordable housing. Finally, when tenants pay less rent, they have more money for other expenses, which is good for the local economy. Their money is not going to the big corporate housing owners. Rather, it is reinvested for the benefit of all.