B.C. plans social housing overhaul

Liberals plan to give out rent cash, rather than build subsidized residences

Miro Cernetig
Sun

VICTORIA -- A radical new approach to social housing is about to be unveiled by British Columbia's Liberal government as it moves toward a model of rent supplements, giving the poor direct cash payments to live where they choose rather than waiting for government housing.

The policy is expected to be announced Tuesday by Forests Minister Rich Coleman, who also holds the housing portfolio. It will affect thousands of people, as there are now 14,000 British Columbians on the government's waiting list for subsidized housing.

The new housing strategy is also a major ideological shift -- one that will put the Liberal government at loggerheads with the New Democratic Party -- as Coleman attempts to convince the public that the private sector can pick up some of the traditional roles of government.

The government is also expected to open the door to greater involvement of the private sector in building affordable housing.

Such opportunities have grown since June, when the new federal Conservative government devolved administrative control of 51,400 housing units -- hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate -- to the B.C. government from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The federal agency's projects often sit on valuable urban land that has sometimes not been developed -- or densified -- in decades.

While the minister refused to discuss details of the plan, he has been telling stakeholders privately it is not the job of the government to be the sole builder of social housing. Nor, he believes, is it even possible, given the size of waiting lists and the limited housing budget.

Coleman, a former real estate developer, will argue much of the money for social housing can be used more efficiently if it is given directly to needy individuals to help pay rents set by private landlords.

He will announce a sliding scale of monthly "supplements" to many now on waiting lists for social housing. The supplements will generally be in the hundreds of dollars per month per individual, but could reach much higher depending on the number of dependants and the person's health.

The program would be a sweeping extension of the limited rent supplements now given to about 14,200 people, most of them elderly and living below the poverty line.

"The short-term and long-term benefit for supplementing people in housing, whether it be in social housing or in market housing is this, and this alone: It gives people the opportunity to make choices for their family," Coleman said recently in Victoria "They can buy their kids new clothes. They can put different food on the table . . . ."

Coleman will also argue the supplements will relieve pressure on the social housing waiting lists, which have been growing over the years. His rationale is that with the supplements, many poor families will be able to afford to remain in the market housing run by private-sector landlords, choose their neighbourhoods and improve their education and work prospects.

The NDP, preparing for a long debate over the changes, held a news conference Sunday in a homeless shelter in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

As dozens of people arose from a night of sleeping on the sidewalk outside the oversubscribed shelter, NDP leader Carole James welcomed the idea of more rent supplements and more private-sector involvement.

But she warned that government must remain the primary overseer and builder of social housing. "We've got 14,000 people on the waiting list," said James. "Government has the biggest role to play."

Longtime anti-poverty activist Jean Swanson noted the Liberal government's restrictions on welfare have made it impossible for many to rent anything. The welfare rate for a single person is $325 a month, she noted, which doesn't cover the cost of most single-room boarding houses in the Downtown Eastside.

But the government is expected to make moves to create new housing, opening the door for more private-sector developments such as the rebuilding of Woodward's in Vancouver, which integrates market condominiums with social housing.

Premier Gordon Campbell said his government will challenge some of the established methods of delivering affordable housing, strategies he believes have ossified. He, too, challenges the idea that government alone should be the primary developer of affordable housing.

"In the past, there's been a lot of ideology that prevented us from being successful," said Campbell. "You'll see a multi-range approach."

© The Vancouver Sun 2006