It’s all very well … even noble … to demand more and better housing for those without or living in what most of us would regard as poor conditions.
But what if all the pressures, rules, restrictions, enforcements by well-meaning advocates and both elected and bureaucratic officials are actually making things worse???
This is a much more difficult question than many people would imagine.
The latest report on homelessness in Metro Vancouver shows homeless numbers have jumped 30% in the past three years … to more than 3,600. And a whopping 45% of those … 992 … are homeless this year for the first time …victims of the increasing unaffordability of housing … even for those who are working.
They are now in ALL Lower Mainland municipalities and even beyond.
But let’s keep it real: many of those living on the streets, in tents or doorways, have some very serious drug, alcohol or psychological problems …. the study found 82% of them are dealing with at least one of those conditions.
That makes some of those very, very difficult if not almost impossible to house … except in expensive, publicly-operated special facilities. And those often have too many rules so that intended residents refuse to live in them … preferring the street, occasional shelters or tenting with friends in parks.
Be honest! How many of US could … or would …. actually provide accommodation, for say $325 a month, to people who REGULARLY act out serious behavioral problems …destroying/stealing your bathroom sinks, toilets, showerheads … throwing up, urinating or defecating almost everywhere and marking up and/or punching holes in your walls during fits of drunkenness, drug overdoses or psychosis???
Like to be their landlord?
At first glance …and thanks to shallow reporting by the media … housing and poverty crusaders offer GREAT show-and-tell evidence of how lousy some of these places are.
But by demanding the City enforce ALL its bylaws …. and shut down so many units … I would suggest THEY have contributed to the current homeless and lack-of-low cost housing crisis.
When those crummy places are shut down, even if the residents are moved, it actually hurts/reduces the overall low income housing stock … increasing pressures/prices on the whole housing market. Supply and demand!!!
And now, housing activists are even suggesting our housing crisis could be IMPROVED by freezing rents!!
NOT!
All that would do is lead to MORE rental units being sold off as condos or used as Bed and Breakfasts … and certainly discourage more rental units from being built.
What we NEED is MORE rental housing … a LOT more!
And the only way to achieve that is for to the city, province and even the federal governments to offer INCENTIVES: much greater tax incentives for rental unit construction/renovations; expedited municipal development processes; improved tax write-offs for occupied rental units; rent-controls on both new/old rental supply; and, for those offering rental rates below certain levels (ie for the hard to house) even greater municipal tax reductions to encourage low rents … and even provincial paid subsidies to enable better upkeep/repairs if/as pre-approved by inspectors.
There is just no way to realistically increase PUBLIC spending with enough BILLIONS of dollars to build AND operate long-term housing projects for thousands more people … as land/construction/housing prices continue to rise … and not just in the Lower Mainland.
A program like I’ve outlined could improve the rental housing crisis in many communities across the country.
Doing nothing… the situation is guaranteed to get worse.
Harv Oberfeld
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