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| Add captionWhile we need to build more social housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and elsewhere around the region, we also need to focus much more on the existing housing stock, says Michael Geller. File photo Dan Toulgoet |
Province should focus on existing housing stock in
DTES and increase shelter rate
In 1973, Bill Teron, the newly appointed president of the Canadian
Mortgage and Housing Corporation wandered into the office where I worked. “How many new homes were built in Canada
last year?” he asked. The answer was approximately 250,000.
He then asked, “How many dwellings are there in Canada?” While the population was 22.5 million, none
of us knew. “Well, it is about eight
million,” he responded, adding that the government focused much attention on
new housing but very little on the existing housing stock. That year, CMHC
introduced the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program or RRAP. It
provided financial assistance to homeowners to upgrade homes. In later years,
landlords could receive benefits. too.
Having just returned from Ottawa, I was thinking
about Teron’s remarks within the context of the Downtown Eastside.My first
exposure to the DTES was in 1974 following an appointment as CMHC’s assistant
architect for B.C. At the time, CMHC would only finance “self-contained”
apartments containing a bathroom and kitchen. However, witnessing the decrepit
condition of many single-room occupancy buildings (SROs), then-assistant
regional director Keith Tapping convinced management to renovate some
buildings.
While a renovated SRO room did not compare with a
new, self-contained apartment, many rooms could be upgraded for the cost of one
apartment. Sadly, over the years, SRO buildings continued to deteriorate. In
2007, the province purchased 24 hotels in the DTES and surrounding areas as
social housing, and upgrades were carried out.
In 2008, I began to volunteer in the Downtown
Eastside with a community organization started by the late Milton Wong and a
small group of dedicated individuals.
I was shocked when told at the time by
housing activist and current city councillor Jean Swanson that
the shelter component of welfare was only $325/month and hadn’t been increased
for years. Since it was virtually impossible to own and operate decent housing
for $325 per month, I suggested that Swanson and I write a joint op-ed in the
Vancouver Sun urging the government to increase this amount. After all, who
could ignore a plea from such strange bedfellows?
A first draft was prepared, but Swanson
subsequently nixed the idea since as her colleague Wendy Pedersen put it, any
increase “would just be putting more money into the landlords’ pockets.” While
this was exactly what was required, the $325 allowance remained in effect until
it was increased to $375. Many SROs became increasingly uninhabitable.
While the city has the power to conduct
repairs in privately owned SROs and bill the owner if maintenance orders aren’t
followed, the city doesn’t typically take that route,
preferring instead to use the courts and other enforcement strategies
to hold owners accountable. One reason is the Columbia Hotel.
Many years ago, the living conditions in this SRO
were so bad the city did go in and repair and billed the owner. Unfortunately,
the owner claimed the city spent too much on repairs and took it to court… and
won. A fire at the Pandora Hotel in 2010 led the city to step
up enforcement of regulations and inspections, particularly at the 10
highest risk buildings.
In 2011, B.C. Housing announced the SRO Renewal
Initiative project to upgrade 13 of the 24 SROs it had purchased and previously
renovated to varying degrees. A fixed-price contract was agreed upon with a
consortium to design, build, partially finance and maintain the buildings for
18 years at a capital cost of $143.3 million.
However, many privately owned SROs continue to
deteriorate. Their condition is often despicable. While we need to build more
social housing in the DTES and elsewhere around the region, as Teron said, we
also need to focus much more on the existing housing stock.
The reality is no one can be expected to own and
maintain decent accommodation, even a room with a shared bathroom, for $375 a
month. A new strategy is needed to address the poor living conditions in
privately owned buildings.
When I first proposed modular housing as a solution
to homelessness in the DTES, Swanson was strongly opposed. Now she has become
an advocate. I therefore urge her to
join me in seeking a significant increase in the shelter component of welfare.
This could be far more cost effective than asking governments buy and renovate
the remaining properties or building new structures.
You just need to examine the costs to date.
