ProjectEnd
Superstar
Update:
Toronto 1113-1125 Dundas Street West | 35.5m | 10s | CreateTO | Brook McIlroy
- Thread starter Northern Light
- Start date
HousingNowTO
Senior Member
Main page story on this pilot - https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/0...g-100-affordable-rentals-dundas-and-ossington
AlbertC
Superstar
City plans to turn parking lot into affordable housing made of mass timber
The project would create one of the largest wood buildings in Toronto, with hopes of leading to a permanent “mass timber affordable housing program.”
www.thestar.com
HousingNowTO
Senior Member
"About 50 to 60 per cent of the units at Dundas and Ossington, which are to be subsidized and operated by a non-profit, would be “deeply affordable” — about 60 per cent of average market rent in Toronto, Cressy (Ward 10, Spadina—Fort York) said in an interview. The remaining units in the 10-storey building would be market rentals, he added.
In the next few months an application to rezone the site will be brought forward. The site is already zoned residential, but city staff are seeking more height & density (10-Storeys / 100-Units) than is currently permitted on the property..."
Northern Light
Superstar
The use of words matters......I'm quite sure they don't mean, 60% of what the average apartment available for rent is renting at; as, according to rentals.ca, that's just over 2k per month for a 1bdrm. Which would make 'deeply affordable' $1,400 per month, or almost double what Ontario Works provides for Shelter and Living expenses.
Language by all people, in all circumstances ought to be bit more precise; people use English is such clumsy ways.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Average Market Rent for affordable housing is defined by CHMC, and is usually substantially lower than *new rental transaction market rent*, as it is the average rent paid by all renters of the city, not the average going rate for an apartment today.
For Toronto, the 2022 average market rent for a 1-bedroom apartment is $1,446. So 60% of that means that 1-bed units will be rented at about $868/month. A bachelor unit would be $735, and 2-bed would be $1,022.
Current City of Toronto Average Market Rents & Utility Allowances
“Monthly occupancy costs” (rent to landlords and charges for utilities) of Toronto Affordable Housing is related to the “Average Market Rents” (AMRs) of other rental accommodation in the city. AMRs are published yearly by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in the Rental Market...
www.toronto.ca
Northern Light
Superstar
Average Market Rent for affordable housing is defined by CHMC, and is usually substantially lower than *new rental transaction market rent*, as it is the average rent paid by all renters of the city, not the average going rate for an apartment today.
For Toronto, the 2022 average market rent for a 1-bedroom apartment is $1,446. So 60% of that means that 1-bed units will be rented at about $868/month. A bachelor unit would be $735, and 2-bed would be $1,022.
Current City of Toronto Average Market Rents & Utility Allowances
“Monthly occupancy costs” (rent to landlords and charges for utilities) of Toronto Affordable Housing is related to the “Average Market Rents” (AMRs) of other rental accommodation in the city. AMRs are published yearly by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in the Rental Market...
That still doesn't align w/social assistance income, or for that matter ODSP income of $1,169 for a single person; the rent above would have someone paying 74% of their income in rent.
Where I think most people would equate 'deeply affordable' with RGI (rent-geared-to-income) which generally caps rent at 30% of income......there's a disconnect in terminology.
I happen to think the RGI number should actually be a bit higher (maybe 40%); that said; a huge problem here is, of course, social assitance/ODSP rates that are well below even marginal subsistence.
Equally, minimum wage that is also far too low.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I wasn't trying to claim that, and the issue here is more so that ODSP is so comically low it's almost criminal. The level of subsidy required to bring rents down to something someone on ODSP could afford would be so high as to be essentially prohibitive. The better way from a government policy perspective would be to increase ODSP a bit instead as it's insanely low.. but that's another conversation for another day.
Someone working for minimum wage today would make about $32,000 a year working full time, and would be able to comfortably afford one of the deeply affordable 1-bed units on a single income. A single mother working for minimum wage could likely afford a 2 or 3 bedroom unit at these deeply affordable levels as well, once CCB is accounted for.
My wider point was more so that these deeply affordable units will rent for well less than $1,400/month for a 1-bed.
Northern Light
Superstar
I agree wholeheartedly
I might quibble a bit here....
Most hourly workers are not paid 40 hours per week but 37.5 (30m paid meal break is all that's required on an 8-hour shift)
That's $29,200
Generally, before filing one's tax return, you expect to lose about 25% of your pay check to CPP/EI and Income tax at that income level. You do recover quite a bit when filing taxes, but that's not available month to month
for expenses; and most low-income people can just set aside any 'windfall' at tax time and space it out over 12 months. Windfalls tend to pay for winter jackets or a bicycle for the kids or furniture.
See here:
from: https://ca.talent.com/tax-calculator?salary=29200&from=year®ion=Ontario
That leaves $1,808 in after-tax income
Before factoring in the Canada Child Benefit; that really is tight.
And consider, the majority of low-income earners do not have children in the qualifying age group for get the CCB
So my first consideration would be the low-income earner w/o CCB.
Can it be made to work, sure......if by work you mean cover rent, food a cell phone and a hair cut every 3 months.
Add transit, it's a bit tight.
Add clothing..........I'm not sure that can work.
Add housewares (cutlery, linens, plates etc)
Furniture
(currently), dental likely out of pocket............
I'm not expecting someone at the lowest margin of society to have a so-called middle-class lifestyle, but they still need a bed of some description, a plate, knife/fork, glass for eating, and a table to eat at; and if one can't afford to go out much if at all, then surely a TV is not an unreasonable thing either.
I wasn't disagreeing at all.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
It's not that low, not sure what calculator you are using for taxes but someone earning minimum wage pays very little income tax and that's decreasing right now with the federal basic income increases, and you have the provincial Low-Income Workers Tax Credit as well which cuts income taxes paid even more. Net take home, even at 37.5hrs a week, is closer to $25k.
Not saying it's not hard at that income again, but it helps to be accurate. An $880/month rent for a 1-bedroom apartment for a single person working for minimum wage would generally be considered affordable.
Obviously it would be better if it was $200 a month, woohoo, they get an extra $600 a month.. but you have to draw a line at some point in these situations recognizing how much money there is to go around to help people and that the extra $600 a month may be better off helping someone else.. It's a balancing game.
CCB Applies for children right up until the age of 18 as well, though it reduces slightly for children over the age of 6.
Not saying it's not hard at that income again, but it helps to be accurate. An $880/month rent for a 1-bedroom apartment for a single person working for minimum wage would generally be considered affordable.
Obviously it would be better if it was $200 a month, woohoo, they get an extra $600 a month.. but you have to draw a line at some point in these situations recognizing how much money there is to go around to help people and that the extra $600 a month may be better off helping someone else.. It's a balancing game.
CCB Applies for children right up until the age of 18 as well, though it reduces slightly for children over the age of 6.
HousingNowTO
Senior Member
Here's the City of Toronto's 2022 AVERAGE MARKET RENT (AMR) values with the "60% of AMR" band highlighted.
HousingNowTO
Senior Member
Let's be 100% clear --- nobody with any ability to form Government at the Provincial or Federal level is seriously talking about spending the many BILLIONS in net new spending that it would take to create and maintain tens of thousands of net new "RGI (rent-geared-to-income) / 30% of income" units annually in Canada.
Northern Light
Superstar
I'm fully aware of that.
My take was on the description.
My secondary point, being that incomes must be raised at the low-end, both through minimum wage and social assistance/ODSP such as to close the deep affordability gap in conjunction with new 'affordable' housing.
AlbertC
Superstar
City of Toronto announces a mass timber affordable housing project
The City of Toronto is incorporating mass timber into an affordable housing pilot project, a first-of-its-kind development for the city that will take a climate action approach. If approved, the pilot project would create one of the largest wood buildings in Toronto—a building with 100 rentals...
www.canadianarchitect.com
cereal
New Member
Wow, really surprised that it's going to be a 10 storey building.