Toronto Community Housing: Thousands of units could close due to lack of cash for repairs
CBC News
By Michelle Cheung
11 March 2016
This
two-bedroom subsidized apartment is not fit for people to live in until
structural repairs are made, says TCH. The family that lived there was
moved out a year ago. (CBC News)
Behind a stand of trees on Islington Ave., north of the 401, 18 town homes stand empty, boarded up since 2008.
In a city where housing is at a premium, it's rare that someone can afford to leave multiple properties vacant.
The landlord, Toronto Community Housing, says the 1962-era,
three-bedroom town homes are beyond repair; they're ridden with mould,
and water has penetrated the foundation.
Eighteen
Toronto Community Housing town homes were deemed unsafe to live in
eight years ago. Families of up to six were living in these
three-bedroom homes before they were shuttered. These large units are
in the shortest supply, says TCH. (CBC News )
"Over the years, there was no money for repairs and maintenance," says
Lisa Murray, spokesperson for TCH. "Water got in through the roof. The
roof was patched many times, but there's only so many times you can
patch a roof."
The homes are just some of the 400 units TCH says it has closed because
it doesn't have the money to do the structural repairs, and there's no
money to tear them down.
It says another 7,500 of its subsidized units are not going to be fit
for people to live in if TCH doesn't get new funding to fix them.
The
second level of the parking garage under a TCH highrise has been
condemned. The corporation says there are foundation cracks, water
leakage and concrete de-lamination. (CBC News )
"My worst nightmare is to have to tell those families that they have to
leave the unit because it's not habitable and I have no place for them
to go," says Greg Spearn, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer
of TCH.
He took CBC News on a tour of one of the high rises TCH owns in downtown Toronto.
In need of more than a patch
Many of the corporation's 2,100 buildings are 50 years old. They've
been patched but now need structural repairs for roofs, leaky water
pipes, single-pane windows, and exterior cladding on buildings that
don't keep water out, says Spearn.
Rebar in
the parking garage is rusted. TCH says the estimated urgent structural
repair bill to the lower-level parking garage is $6.5 million. (CBC
News )
Rebar in the parking garage is rusted. TCH says the estimated urgent
structural repair bill to the lower-level parking garage is $6.5
million. (CBC News )
Rebar in the parking garage is rusted. TCH says the estimated urgent
structural repair bill to the lower-level parking garage is $6.5
million. (CBC News )
Show me the federal money
The city's housing advocate, city councillor Ana Bailão, says she's
going to pay close attention to what the federal government has to
offer in its budget, which will be announced on March 22.
She and Mayor John Tory took the federal Minister of Infrastructure
Amarjeet Sohi on a tour of the revitalized Regent Park in January. The
minister and the prime minister have said they are committed to
spending $20 billion on infrastructure, including social housing, over
the next 10 years.
A social
housing unit has water damage because the seals around the single-paned
windows are failing. The windows are original to the apartment, which
was built 47 years ago, says TCH. (CBC News )
"One of the things we didn't have in the past is the availability to
use federal funds for the repairs," says Bailão. "We are hoping this
federal budget is going to give us the flexibility to use that cash to
do those repairs that we need."
TCH is the city's biggest subsidized housing provider with about 60,000
unit. But there are other providers, including non-profit groups, and
they're in trouble, too.
"We have about this decade to work with them [the other groups] so it
never gets to the point of TCH," says Bailão. "But some of these
non-profit housing providers are starting to come to the city because
they are also in dire condition."
There's no reason for the federal government to back away from its
commitment to social housing, says Toronto Member of Parliament Adam
Vaughan.
"There are dollars on the table for green infrastructure and
retrofitting and repairing social housing, affordable housing and
co-ops," says the former Toronto city councillor.
But Toronto will have to wait for the budget to find out the exact dollar amounts, he says.
Pinhole
leaks in the common hot water pipes behind the wall has caused this
damage, says TCH. The corporation says the leaks are common to the
building next door. (CBC News)
There may be some good news for the social housing sector on Monday,
when Ontario's housing minister is expected to release a long-term
affordable housing strategy.
The number of people who are on the waiting list for low-income housing
in the city continues to grow. At the end of last year, there were more
than 95,000 families or individuals on the list, while the number of
people who are housed year-to-year has dropped according to Housing
Connections, the city-run service that manages the waiting list for
Toronto.
The corporation's CEO says the situation is demoralizing for the
community — there is a longer-than-ever waiting list, and existing
tenants are uncertain whether their unit might be next to be close.
"Some of our residents will not tell us when they have leakage problems
because they don't want to be moved out of the unit. They'd rather stay
in the community or stay with the assurance that at least they have a
roof over their head."
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