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VIDEO: Council decision on affordable housing draws protest
Last month the London housing advisory committee endorsed a motion that would see the city investing $2 million dollars into new affordable housing, however, during a Board of Control meeting last week (Feb. 8), a decision was made to divert the entire $2 million into funding repairs into existing affordable housing in the city. Louise Stevens, director of the City of London's Housing Division, said at first, the board was leaning towards dividing up the money, with $1 million going to new affordable housing and $1 million going towards the repairs of existing housing. "But after all the conversation they decided to put the full $2 million in major repairs instead of the one-and-one," Stevens said. "It appeared that in most of council's minds that we should be taking care of the stuff that we're legally obliged to take care of before we start creating any more. I don't think they quite understand that any new stuff that we're building is not going to have any operating subsidy." This decision to divert the cash had protesters braving arctic wind chills yesterday afternoon, demanding that council follow the original recommendation and inject the $2 million into new affordable housing. "It's obviously critical to repair the housing that is there so its up to code," said Rob Hepburn, one of the protest organizers and the president of the NDP London-Fanshawe Riding Association, "but at the same time (council) shouldn't be taking the money to do repairs from the budget of the new housing." Hepburn said the group was gathered on the steps of city hall, with signs and tents to illustrate the protest, to send a message to council. "We're here to endorse the original recommendation – there is a need in London for affordable housing, and this city council doesn't seem to recognize it." Noting the budget's final approval is set to come down Tuesday (Feb. 20), Hepburn said council needs to get the message before that final vote: "Those dollars need to be there." Stevens agreed saying while major repairs to existing affordable housing does need to be done, new affordable housing should also be a top priority. "I think both reserves need the funding. I don't think one should be done at the expense of the other." The demand in the city for new affordable housing must be addressed, Stevens said, but noted when the existing social housing was handed down to the municipalities by the province, back in the Mike Harris days of the Common Sense Revolution, with insufficient reserve funds for affordable housing groups. "They (provincial government) stopped assisting the groups for approximately three years," Stevens said, "and when they did resume contributions it was only at one-third of what it originally was." But prior to taking over affordable housing, the city did a "condition assessment and the assessment said we should be topping up the reserves by $2.5 million a year for at least 10 years," she noted. That recommendation was made in 2000 yet the city didn't start the reserve fund until 2005. Stevens said $1 million was injected to the fund in 2005 and $1 million in 2006. "Way short of what was recommended in 2000." In the meantime, she continued, the affordable housing reserve fund for new housing had been getting $2 million a year since 2002, "and it was never a budgeted item," Stevens said, "it came from surplus or permission to issue debt." Stevens also noted that the implementation of an affordable housing strategy, presented in 2005 and approved by council in April of last year, recommended council continue to contribute $2 million to that reserve fund from whatever source. "Of course, we put together keeping in mind that we needed money for both new affordable housing and major repairs – but it kind of derailed during debates," Stevens said. |
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