" As There was no Room for Them in the Inn".

In the midst of a perceived economic boom we have unprecedented numbers of people (estimated from 100,000 to 300,000) in Canada who are homeless. Hundreds of thousands of others live in substandard and crowded housing conditions. How can this be?

In my community (Waterloo) a substandard one bedroom apartment rents for $600+ per month, if you can find it. The vacancy rate is below 1 %. Social assistance gives a parent with one child $1,062 per month. This means that over 60% of gross income is spent on housing. What is left is for other essentials? Not enough by a long shot!

If a person is working at a typical service job, the wage is likely to be around $7.50 per hour. Most of these jobs are part-time on an as-called-in basis. Although people try to combine two or even three part time jobs they seldom get enough hours to work full time. Effectively they would earn $12,000 to $14,000 per year. Again they are paying over 50% of their gross income on housing. The numbers don’t work and one setback makes you homeless. Once one is homeless, it is very difficult to qualify for a new apartment.

Why are apartments so expensive? I live in and serve on the finance committee of a 50 unit non-profit housing co-operative. We have a commercial mortgage having 5 year terms, just like any other developer. And just like any other developer we pay taxes, do maintenance, and replace building components, playgrounds and landscaping. And like any other developer we renewed our mortgage over the past five years at a much lower interest rate saving us $13,500 per year. Unlike any other developer, we reduced our housing charges by 3% when we renewed our mortgage. Every other commercial landlord, of which I am aware, increased the rents by the maximum allowable and pocketed the difference.

Buildings that are over 30 years old are likely to have their mortgages paid off. As the mortgage payment is about 45-50% of a development’s annual operational costs, every building over thirty years old could have its rents reduced by that amount. Obviously few, if any, do and the differences are pocketed the landlords.

Because our co-op has access to some subsidy funds which we supplement internally, we are able to provide subsidized housing to some people of low income. In numerous situations we have found that having affordable housing and a stable community provides families with the time to vastly improve their emotional stability and quality of life. In most situations people have also been able to improve their financial situation giving us the ability to provide affordable housing to others. It’s an example of how housing can be operated in the interests of people rather than profit. Currently 70,000 Canadian families live in co-operative housing.

We and the various co-operatives across the country receive numerous requests every day from people who are desperate for affordable housing. This summer we had families camping in the local conservation area because they could not find housing.

Although the greed of commercial landlords is easily documented, knowing this doesn’t help the homeless. Nor are they helped by provincial governments which are effectively removing rent controls and a federal government which has removed billions from our social services and safety nets to create tax cuts for the middle and upper classes.

A fundamental scriptural theme is that all people are entitled to the basics for human life. The jubilee cycle was set up to ensure that all were entitled to reclaim their share of the community’s resources (Leviticus 25). There would be no poor among the people if they obeyed these commandments (Deuteronomy 15). Jesus made the jubilee the core of his teachings (Luke 4:18-19). It is precisely in ensuring the needs of all, especially the people who don’t have enough, that we meet Jesus. (Matthew 25:31-46).

So how can we respond?

Of course we should advocate for a regulatory environment and government policies and taxes which ensure that everyone has access to good housing. But given today’s political climate, it is unlikely that people who are homeless and poorly housed will get relief through this avenue in the immediate future.

Most of us can consider two things which we can undertake immediately which collectively will contribute to making a significant contribution to making housing affordable.

1.     Start investing savings, including RRSPs, into co-op and/or social housing. The extensive network of co-operatives across the country can be an excellent foundation for expanding co-operative housing to thousands more families. A number of co-ops are considering expansion but such plans are always hampered by lack of financing. The local co-op federations can direct you to co-ops which need capital. Contact addresses are available through the website of the Co-operative Housing Federations of Canada http://www.chfc.ca.

2.     Convert part of your house to an apartment which can be rented. Many of us rattle around in houses which are much too large for us. Investing $20,000 - $30,000 could convert some of that floor space to something others could use. You can get the money to finance this through your local credit union. Monthly payment would be less than $400, creating the opportunity to do something good in our current economy.