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Posts Tagged ‘Tax breaks’

AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVES . . . City of Toronto

Posted in Affordable housing, Building Maintenance, Canada's Housing Policy, City Hall, City of Toronto, Developers, Economy, Home ownership, Housing waiting list, Rent-geared-to-income, Subsidized housing, Tax breaks, tagged , , , , , , on November 18, 2008| 2 Comments »

The City of Toronto’s Affordable Housing Office has been involved in various housing initiatives to make life easier for renters in the GTA with low or modest incomes .  The initiatives include various strategies that would increase the supply of affordable rental housing and also provide opportunities for low-income renters to purchase a home.  Here are some examples of the City’s affordable housing initiatives:

1. Rental Housing
The City of Toronto’s Affordable Housing Office has a project in place to increase the number of affordable rental units available to renters with modest incomes. This ‘affordable rental housing’ project consists of 35 rental buildings under development and as of September 2008 a total 6 were completed.  You can view a list of the ongoing building and (more…)

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ELECTION IS OVER . . . now what?

Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, CMHC, Economy, Politics, Rent Control, Residential Tenancies Act, Tax breaks, tagged , , , , , , , on October 26, 2008| 1 Comment »

 

In Beaches-East York the incumbent Liberal MP, Maria Minna, is once again heading back to Ottawa to represent us. The East York Tenants Group congratulate her.

Now to the business of getting some concrete action from our newly re-elected federal representative and the newly formed federal government.

Although our recently re-elected MP is in the opposition, tenants in Beaches-East York have certain expectations with regard to alleviating hardships faced by tenants, who by the way, comprise a huge segment of the residential households in Beaches-East York.

In the weeks preceding the election we raised a number of important tenants’ issues, not least of which is ‘affordable housing’. Two of the main factors in realizing ‘affordable housing’ are:  i) an adequate supply of rental apartment buildings and/or, ii) bringing back ‘rent controls.’  Several community groups and organizations have raised these issues time and again with politicians. The East York Tenants Group e-mailed political representatives at all levels of government (more…)

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– FEDERAL ELECTION: Are Tenants Invisible?

Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, Developers, Politics, Tax breaks, tagged , , , , , on October 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »

 

We have less than 2 weeks remaining before the federal election on October 14, 2008.  Many tenants in Beaches-East York are struggling to make ends meet due to rising unemployment and underemployment. We are about to experience a huge leap in our overall cost of living due to the downturn in the global economy. This means many tenants will find it even harder to pay market rents as the present economic crisis deepens. So why isn’t the issue of ‘affordable housing’ addressed by the candidates? Is it because ‘tenants are invisible’?

 

A closer look at the housing system put in place by the federal government provides clues as to why the tenant population has become invisible. Several decades ago the federal government put in place a housing program that distanced them from the thorny issue of ‘affordable housing’ for renters. The program focused more on the private market and the ownership sector. The responsibility for the rental market sector was downloaded to the provincial and municipal governments but that responsibility is (more…)

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– “Sustainable Affordability”, Job Shift, and Housing

Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, Job Shift, Politics, Seniors, Seniors housing, Sustainable affordability, Tax breaks, tagged , , , , , , on October 1, 2008| Leave a Comment »

 By I. Aagaard, Guest Contributor

 

 

In my previous piece (MISSING: National Housing policy in Federal Elections!) I focused on affordable housing, whether or not this should be viewed as a fundamental human right, and the fact that we in Canada do not have a national housing strategy.

 

In this piece I’d like to pose some questions regarding “sustainable affordability” to affordable housing. By definition, “sustainable affordability” means the affordability to a decent place to live must be sustainable. To help accomplish that, one must have a greater degree of control over one’s housing costs – i.e. the profitability factor must be decreased. More Not-for-Profit and Co-Op housing would help on that front, as would home ownership. Another factor to consider is the whole business of banks lending practices when it comes to mortgages. Just look to the US and what’s happened (more…)

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– MISSING: National Housing policy in Federal Elections!

Posted in Activism, Affordable housing, Canada's Housing Policy, CMHC, Economy, Politics, Seniors housing, Tax breaks, Voting System, tagged , , , , , , , on September 22, 2008| 4 Comments »

By I. Aagaard, Guest Contributor

Okay, I don’t know about you but for me some issues are conspicuously absent in this election campaign. They are:

(a)  a total lack of vision regarding Canada and the kind of society we want and,
(b)  tenants and the right to affordable housing.

Regarding (a) . . . I only wish to encourage each and every one of you to give serious thought to what kind of society you want for yourself and your children/future generations in this country. Think beyond your own immediate wants and needs and look to what really matters to you.  For example, do you think a healthy, well-educated society matters to ensure we remain competitive globally and able to support the education and health care systems vital to our future?  Tempting as it is to focus on your own immediate needs, I encourage all of you to look beyond those and give thoughts to the kind of Canada you want for your children and grandchildren and, by extension, for yourself in old age. Think about the kind of health care services, pension income, and affordable senior housing or nursing home care you want to see available to all.

Regarding (b) . . . affordable housing for all, not just the relative few who can afford to buy/own property but more so for the many who are forced to rent a place to live, I ask you to consider if this should be viewed as a universal right or merely a right for those who can afford to own property.

In case you’re not aware of this – CANADA IS THE ONLY WESTERN NATION THAT DOES NOT HAVE A NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY targetting renters.  Tenants are left totally at the mercy of the capitalist market place.  Landlords will charge whatever the market will bear.  Only exception is (more…)

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