A significant portion of the funds made available for social housing is unused, representing the equivalent of 7,000 low-cost housing, I discovered by analyzing data from the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ).
This high number is surprising, knowing that 37,000 households in Quebec are waiting for an HLM or its equivalent, ie housing eligible for the Rent Supplement Program (PSL).
The funds sleeping in the drawers of Quebec are around $ 30 million, we can estimate, and they could fill nearly 20% of the waiting list1.
How to explain such availability in the current context of the real estate market? The reasons are numerous, but for the most part, there would be a mismatch between the available housing and the needs of households, in addition to a possible inefficiency in the management of the subsidy envelopes.
At the start of 2021, more specifically, the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) – the authority in the matter – had the funds to finance 41,677 PSL housing units. However, only 34,709 housing units were actually associated with PSL subsidies, i.e. a difference of 6,968, confirmed by the SHQ2.
The Rent Supplement Program (PSL) allows eligible poor households not to devote more than 25% of their income to their rent, as for low-rent housing. In a way, the PSLs have replaced the HLMs.
The approximately 7,000 PSL units that have not been allocated fall into three categories: long-term funded housing for AccèsLogis buildings, private sector units and short-term emergency units.
About 2,400 of the approximately 7,000 unused PSL units were intended for emergency situations (homeless, women victims of domestic violence, homeless households on 1er July, etc.). This proportion is very high, knowing that only 500 emergency units were actually in use in Quebec at the start of 2021.
Since June 2021, the government has also converted 1,500 of these unallocated emergency units into “regular” units, which are now funded over five years rather than one year, it is indicated in the budget update of November of the Ministry of Finance.
Once emergencies are removed, there are still nearly 4,600 PSL units available in the long term for low-income households, but not allocated. And of this number, two-thirds (2,924) are for existing housing in the AccèsLogis program and the other third is for the private market.
It is usually the co-ops and non-profit housing organizations that are responsible for finding tenants for the 2,924 AccèsLogis housing units where there are PSLs available.3.
The spokesperson for the Quebec Housing Network, Jacques Beaudoin, is unable to explain why there are so many availabilities. “The figure of almost 3000 is shocking, impressive. I do not understand why. There is very little vacancy in subsidized housing, ”he tells me.
Jacques Beaudoin recognizes that non-profit organizations sometimes accept that dwellings that should be attached to a PSL grant are not used for this purpose and are occupied by other tenants. This would be the case when their tenants see their incomes exceed the level to be eligible for the subsidy, “but these are anecdotal cases,” he says.
Sandra Turgeon, director general of the Confédération québécoise des coops d’habitation, also maintains that an under-allocation of PSL to the right people is anecdotal.
The general manager of the Federation of Montreal Housing NPOs, Chantal Desjardins, is also surprised by the importance of these figures. She argues that the income thresholds required for households to qualify are too low, which may restrict the allowance. In addition, she says there is a lack of funds to renovate units.
Other reasons could explain that subsidized housing is not allocated, explains Mathieu Vachon, spokesperson for the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM), which is responsible for the administration of PSL for the Island of Montreal4.
First, an available accommodation must match the profile of the requesting household (a couple, a family, etc.), depending on the size of the accommodation. In addition, a PSL subsidy available in a 16-unit building in Verdun, for example, cannot be reallocated to a building in Laval, where there would be an eligible household, which limits the allocation possibilities.
In addition to these 2,924 housing units from NPOs and co-ops, Quebec also has 1655 unused PSL units in the private housing market. For these private PSLs, it is the municipal housing offices, such as that of Montreal (OMHM), which match the dwellings with the tenants.
A rent problem?
OMHM spokesperson Mathieu Vachon said it was difficult to find owners willing to rent their homes to poor households eligible for the PSL.
In addition, he explains, “there are challenges in finding adequate housing on the private market, both in terms of sanitation and the rent and the type that meets the needs of the household. The lower the vacancy rate in the market, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile these three criteria ”.
Among other things, the rather low rent ceilings of the SHQ program for housing to be eligible make the OMHM’s work difficult. For example, on the Island of Montreal, an unheated four-and-a-half-room apartment cannot be rented for more than $ 892 by an owner for the unit to be eligible for the PSL. For a five-and-a-half, the cap is $ 1,092.
However, comparable units available on the Montreal market are often rented between $ 200 and $ 500 more expensive, according to my research on the Facebook Marketplace tab.5.
It should be noted, however, that a private landlord who rents a unit to an eligible household under the PSL receives an average of $ 5,000 in subsidies per year, or the equivalent of $ 415 per month, according to data from the Ministry of Finance. .
I have asked the SHQ many questions in recent months to unravel the great complexity of the system, to get the facts straight on the numbers and to understand the phenomenon of unused PSLs.
The SHQ affirms that it checks whether the co-ops and NPOs allocate the minimum threshold of PSL units provided for in their agreement for AccèsLogis. However, she could not give me the details of the checks at the time of publication. Since 2019, this minimum threshold required for new AccèsLogis projects has been reduced from 20% to 50% of the total housing units in a project.
As for the private market, nearly 300 of the 1,655 unused PSL units are for projects in development or under construction, where there are no tenants yet, says the SHQ. To increase the attractiveness of the private sector, the SHQ also indicates that, in mid-December, it increased the maximum admissible rent from 110% to 120% of the median market rent.
The SHQ does not keep a record of the annual volume of unused PSL, for example for 10 years, which makes it impossible to compare unallocated funds over time, for example with the 7,000 units of 2021.
As you can see, the reasons for these many orphaned PSLs are diverse and imprecise. In the end, one in seven units that are subject to PSL government subsidies for the most disadvantaged is not allocated, which seems unacceptable to me in the current context.
1– The number of unused units is almost as important as the objective of new HLM-type housing promised by the administration of Valérie Plante for the next four years (8,000 housing units).
2– The figure of 41,677 units, as of March 31, 2021, is taken from the November 2021 budget update from the Quebec Ministry of Finance. That of 34 709 comes from the booklet Housing in brieffrom the SHQ, for December 31, 2020.
3– The administration of the PSL comes under the municipal housing offices. However, it is up to the co-ops and NPOs to provide the list of requesting households for AccèsLogis buildings. These NPOs and co-ops receive the subsidy linked to the PSL.
4– Mathieu Vachon confirms to me that on the Island of Montreal, 1092 PSL units are unused in AccèsLogis buildings, or 37% of the 2924 in Quebec. For the private sector, this number of unallocated units rises to 699, to which must be added the 274 for emergencies, for a total of 2,065 unallocated units in 2021.
5– And again, the ceilings imposed by the SHQ were raised from 8.3% to 13% in 2021.