Housing Concerns -- Town Hall meeting

When governments make changes that affect our daily lives as Canadians, the results play out differently from community to community.

In March, the provincial government first announced temporary changes to the residential rental process and the federal government announced mortgage payment deferral remedies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later, The Toronto Danforth Provincial Liberal Association (TDPLA) organized a town hall meeting for the residents of Danforth Village in East York to better understand and address the new housing realities during this crisis.

President of the TDPLA, Karen Sommerville, and community leader and real estate professional, Li Koo, facilitated discussions with panelists Lynne Gibbson, a mortgage specialist, Sean Carson, a tenant and member of the tenant advocacy group Akelius Tenants Network (ATN), and LJ Savage a residential landlord.

The purpose of the community town hall was to address the many questions posed by Toronto Danforth residents about the housing market, mortgage rates and landlord and tenant issues and to engage the community at-large to share their first-hand accounts of how the governments’ changes have affected them in their city village.

The assembled panel shared, via Zoom, their varied housing situations: Savage and his wife purchased a second home in 2018 and divided it up into affordable, single family units in order to generate retirement income. As housing and financing professionals, Koo and Gibbson were approached by members of the community with questions regarding housing trends and mortgage repayment options. Carson, one of the founding members of ATN, provided general information about tenants rights.

The combined information proffered to the virtual audience culminated in the following main takeaways:

• Real Estate - Real estate continues to be designated an essential business.
• The housing market (as of Apr 2020) is growing, only slowed. - It is not business as usual – dramatic reduction in face-to-face transactions instead favouring virtual tours.
• Mortgages - Banks are offering up to six month mortgage deferrals. - Must prove lose of income due to pandemic.
• Banks – Banks are cutting red tape and looking at individual eligibility on a case-by-case basis. - Residential landlords can apply for mortgage deferrals.
• Tenants - Housing is a right. (Ontario Human Rights Commission, Universal Declaration of Human Rights – United Nations) - Right to housing is a recent Canadian law. (Bill C-97, National Housing Strategy Act, June 2019).

Housing insecurity has been highlighted by CERB payouts. (Various sources suggest rent spends should be roughly 30% of gross monthly income). - The Ontario government has placed a moratorium on evictions during the pandemic lockdown.