By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The need for supportive housing in Chatham-Kent is expected to grow by 500 per cent over the next 25 years.
And the waiting list for some geared-to-income housing is 10 years long.
Those were but two of the findings presented to Chatham-Kent council recently as part of a municipal housing assessment.
Tim Welch, of Tim Welch Consulting, outlined the results of data gleaned between over recent months.
“There’s a particularly high and long waiting list for one-bedroom units,” Welch told council, noting the issue will need ongoing attention from politicians and staff.
According to Welch, average rents increased by 44 per cent between 2019 and 2024 in C-K, putting affordable housing out of reach for low- or modest-income earners.
The cost of purchasing a home in Chatham-Kent has experienced a significant increase over the past years and interest rates have risen, putting home ownership out of reach for those earning a modest pay cheque.
“When we talk about affordability, it’s really important to keep in mind we’ve got a wide range of affordable housing needs,” Welch said, “It’s not just one category that is affordable housing.”
Unaffordability applies to various situations he said, but a common bench mark is when an individual or family has to pay more than 30 per cent of income on housing.
Homelessness has also increased 171 per cent since 2019, Welch said. As of February of this year, 115 C-K residents were living outside, 40 people were living in the municipal shelter and 60 individuals were living in motels or couch surfing.
Homelessness is “expensive and destabilizing,” for communities he added, and the goal of programs is to keep people housed, noting supportive housing is something to strive for.
There’s a need for housing across the board, Welch said, noting there is very strong need for rental housing in the lower end of the rental market. Currently, he said, three-quarters of Chatham-Kent residents live in single detached dwellings.
There’s also the issues of modest population growth and aging, he added, noting that over the next 25 years, Chatham-Kent will need 23,446 units, 9,000 of which need to be attainable.
According to Welch, an up-to-date housing assessment is needed as part of the federal government’s requirement in order to access infrastructure funding.
“You want to make sure you keep federal money flowing,” he said.
Council heard that the key to accessing federal or provincial money for housing builds lies in having municipal properties that are shovel ready for projects.
Other key findings in the assessment:
- Affordability affects 15.7 per cent of Chatham-Kent households;
- Single and single-parent households are the highest need;
- Renters are disproportionately impacted with 30.6 per cent of renters compared to 9.7 per cent of homeowners; and
- Core housing impacts 3,025 households, indicating they cannot access appropriate housing without overspending.
Following the presentation, council approved a request from administration to issue a request for proposal to hire a consultant to complete a Strategic Housing Action Plan to address specific housing needs for communities across Chatham-Kent. The cost will be funded through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Housing Accelerator Fund grant.
