Social Housing

Definitions  Landlord: a person who owns a property and rents it to someone else  Rent: A tenant's regular payment to a landlord for the use of property or land.  Private housing: land or belongings owned by a person or group and kept for their exclusive use  Social housing: housing provided for people on low incomes or with particular needs by government agencies or non-profit organizations.

What is social housing?  Allows people and families with low wages, or who get government help, to find housing in the private sector.  Social housing includes supportive housing, government-funded subsidies and rent-geared-to-income.  Ontario Human Rights Commission

Who lives in social housing?  Tenants come from diverse backgrounds.  Tenants must show legal status in Canada for all household members. One household member must be 16 years of age or older

Types of rent paid  Rent geared to income (RGI)  These rents are subsidized to about 30 % of the entire household’s gross income.  Rent Subsidies  These rents are subsidized by Social Housing for a private housing  Market rents  These rents are similar to those charged by a private landlord.

Housing availability: Toronto  The wait ranges from  about one to five years for a bachelor;  seven to ten years for a one-bedroom;  five to ten years for a two-bedroom;  ten to twelve years for a three- to four- bedroom;  and four to six years for a five-bedroom home.

Conditions of Social Housing  spouses/partners share a bedroom and can request to share a bachelor unit  two same-sex children under 18 years old share a bedroom  children 18 or over are entitled to their own room (or you can request that they share a room with another child  children of the opposite sex are given separate bedrooms (unless you request to have the children share a bedroom)  a parent can request to share a bedroom with their dependent child

Social Housing in Toronto  Number of social housing units in Toronto: 93,198  Number of units with rent geared to 30% of the household’s income: 70,379  Annual cost of Toronto social housing in 2011 (includes time-limited stimulus funding from the federal and provincial governments): $ million  Percentage paid by Toronto: 41  Percentage paid by the federal government: 32  Percentage paid by the provincial government: 19  Percent paid by GTA pooling: 8  Percentage of all Toronto social housing stock owned and operated by Toronto Community Housing: 63