Nearly 500 households are still looking for housing in Quebec after the 1er July, counted the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), which took stock of the situation on Tuesday following the big moving day.
Compared to the 680 households that had still not signed a new lease on the eve of 1er July, Tuesday’s results are improving, in part because “the addition of government assistance services makes a difference,” according to Véronique Laflamme, FRAPRU spokesperson.
“The figures do not tell us everything, but they are enormous,” said the spokesperson at a press conference. She estimates that many other people are still looking for housing, and that, in some cases, the situation may worsen over the summer.
115 households have still not signed a lease in Montreal, but the crisis is spreading throughout Quebec, where few housing units are available, as illustrated by the low vacancy rates. The number of households temporarily relocated to Montreal is 39, according to Valérie Rhême, head of communications at the Office municipal de l’Habitation de Montréal.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Veronique Laflamme
“Even when the vacancy rate was above the market equilibrium threshold of 3%, in Montreal there were dozens of tenant households who failed to sign a lease because the available units were overpriced,” said Véronique Laflamme.
The inability to find accommodation at 1er July can be the start of a “spiral that can lead to the street”, she added.
An action plan should be tabled in the fall by the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau. It was originally scheduled for March 2022. “Doing nothing is also expensive,” recalled Véronique Laflamme.
FRAPRU urges the government “not to wait” to put funding for social housing on the table, recalling that “the solution to the housing crisis is not just the construction of housing at all costs if they are not not affordable. »
The Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) had 199 households that had to be temporarily housed across Quebec on Monday.
Tenants who have still not called on the assistance services are invited to contact the municipal housing offices or the SHQ. In Montreal, dial 311.