Working together so everyone has a good
place to call home
NLHHN October 26, 2011 Michael Shapcott Director, Housing and Innovation The Wellesley Institute
Let’s get clicking! Who is your favourite accordion player?
1. Kris MacFarlane from Great Big Sea
2. Minnie White, ‘first lady of accordion’ 3. Words ‘favourite’ and ‘accordion’ don’t belong together!
Four observations:
!" Housing insecurity deep / persistent#" Costly to people, communities,
economy, government$" Federal housing / homelessness
investments eroding%" No comprehensive national plan
Growing numbers
Changing face of homelessness
Hidden needs
Complex links between housing, homelessness, poverty, poor health
OECD – growing unequal
Bad housing makes you sick!Homelessness:
Increased morbidityIncreased premature morality
Mental health:Alarming rates... especially
Clinical depression and anxietyControl / meaning Collective efficacy
Biological / physical:Chemicals, gases, pollutantsDesign (accidents) / crowdingSocio-economic:
Affordability / energy Transportation / income / jobs
Contextual:Individual / neighbourhood deprivation
networks / friends / crime
Good housing good for health!
Physical and mental health:Better health outcomes /
decreased health care utilization
Community safety:Reduced recidivism among people leaving incarceration
Affordability interventions:Income-based housing subsidies
Environment / physical infrastructure: New housing, repairs, heating, noise,
indoor + outdoor environmental issues,allergens, water + sanitation
Bad for people -
bad for economy
“We are used to thinking of affordable housing as a social and a health issue...”
“However, working to find solutions to problem of affordable housing is also smart economic policy. An inadequate supply of housing can be a major impediment to business investment and growth...”
Homelessness is bad for business and the federal government does not have a national plan to end homelessness in Canada.
While solutions to homelessness exist and efforts are being made by communities to implement solutions... the government has been unable to reduce the total number of homeless...
A national plan to end homelessness will clearly set goals, objectives, metrics and outcomes and provide the proper mechanisms...
September 2010
Federal gov’t: Housing investments have big economic impact
The story thus far:
Ø Deep housing insecurity
Ø Poor housing = poor health
Ø Good housing = good for health, good for economy
What’s happening in your community?
In my area over the last year, housing and homelessness issues are: 1. Getting worse
2. Getting better
3. Staying about the same
UN Special Rapporteur, 2009
“Canada has a long and proud history of housing successes, and has been known around the world for its innovative housing solutions. The Special Rapporteur visited and received information about programmes, laws and policies that represent good practices... Canada can also rely on a tremendous range of academic and civil society resources.” !
“There has been a significant erosion of housing rights over the past two decades. Canada’s successful social housing programme, which created more than half a
million homes starting in 1973, has been discontinued.
1980s and 1990s:Era of big housing cuts
- even as economy roars
Federal housing cuts:
Federal 2011-12 Spending Estimates cut 39% in housing investments from $3.1 billion last year to $1.9
billion this year, including 97% cut to affordable housing initiative, 94% cut to housing repairs and 70% cut to
assisted housing.
Short-term federal housing and homelessness initiatives expire in 2014: All short-term funding ends,
including July 2011 federal-provincial-territorial affordable housing agreement. In addition, long-term “step out” of federal long-term housing commitments
(started in 1996) continues...
560,000
580,000
600,000
620,000
640,000
$1,500,000,000
$1,750,000,000
$2,000,000,000
$2,250,000,000
$2,500,000,000
$2,750,000,000
$3,000,000,000
2001
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
housing program estimated h/hs
CMHC corporate plan
In 2010, 40% of Newfoundland Labrador Housing’s total revenues
came from federal government
(down from 58% in 2004)
Total revenues: $153 million in 2010
CMHC contribution: $60 million in 2010
$-
$500,000,000
$1,000,000,000
$1,500,000,000
$2,000,000,000
$2,500,000,000
$3,000,000,000
$3,500,000,000
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Federal, provincial and municipal unadjusted housing spending
Can these trends continue???
From 1998 to 2008: As federal housing investments erode, most provinces
increase housing investments
2008 – unilateral housing investments per capita
CMHC / federal housing cuts (2011 – 2015) coming at a time when:
• feds restricting mortgage market • # of h/hs projected to increase • private rental market stagnant • CMHC projecting growing surpluses ($1.5
billion in 2015)
Continuing the story:
Ø Erosion of federal housing investments continues
Ø Provinces and municipalities picked up
some of slack… until now…
Federal policy priority:
Reverse erosion housing investments: • CAEH - New national voice • Council of Federation • FCM
Housing needs in your community?
In my area, the top housing need is: 1. Unaffordable housing costs
2. Not enough housing
3. Poor repair in existing housing
4. Inadequate social / medical supports
Adding up numbers: 1990 to 2008
Canada: • Median renter h/h income stagnant – up 5%
• Avg private market rent skyrocketed - up 43% • Median renter h/h income (2008) - $33,100
• h/h income req’d for AMR - $32,160
Newfoundland and Labrador: • Median renter h/h income down – minus 19% • Avg private market rent skyrocketed – up 23%
• Median renter h/h income (2008) - $25,200 • h/h income req’d for AMR - $25,360
Shrinking rental housing supply - NL
Primary rental
Vacant units
Secondary rental
2011 (1) 5,023 107 xx 2010 (2) 5,088 51 13,023 2010 (1) 5,170 58 xx 2009 (2) 5,213 51 12,896
Rental vacancy rates painfully low
Forecasting h/h growth to 2036
Canada: • 2006 – 12.8m households (owner and renter)
• 2036 – 17.9m households
New housing starts:
New affordable homes under Canada’s National Housing Act
‘The very nature of homelessness makes accurate counts and surveys … difficult. At the provincial level, precision of homeless counts is not as important as having a strong understanding about the magnitude of the problem and the trends. For such a complex issue, good overall information is critical if the government is to make effective decisions and match its programs to the problems… if the biggest cause of homelessness… is the gap between the cost of housing and what people can afford to pay, then the appropriate solution would be quite different than if the main cause is poor mental health and/or addictions.’
- BC Auditor General, Homelessness: Clear Focus Needed, 2009
(1) improvement of housing conditions, and (2) absorb unemployment by stimulation of
construction and building industries
Dominion Housing Act - 1935!
Dominion Housing Act is a ‘comedy of errors’ and ‘an act
to facilitate the financing of homes for the middle class
who were not in the market.’
Percy Nobbs, Dean of Architecture, McGill University,
January, 1936
Time for an adult conversation
about housing indicators and
measures
WI discussion brief by Steve Pomeroy,
October 2012
Building evidence base for local, provincial, national housing plans
Better evidence allows:
Communities to better target real needs, and assess results
Governments to shift incentives to
reward better outcomes – performance-based measures
NPs to attract new partners and
new financing…
Population size byethnicity, immigrantstatus, and gender
Disabled %
Undereducated (notcollege grad) %
Chronically ill %
Poor access tohealth care %
Unhealthy behavior& obese %
Low income %
Health careinterventions
Behavioralinterventions
Educationinterventions
Jobs/incomeinterventions
General lowincome trend General adverse
housing trends
Population-wideaverages & disparity
ratios
Housinginterventions
Adverse housing %(by low/higher income)
Social capitalinterventions
Social capital
General health careaccess trend
Death rate
Initial differences in socialdeterminants and health by ethnicity,
immigrant status, and gender
Wellesley Urban Health Model
Continuing the story:
Ø Available numbers suggest big housing troubles ahead
Ø Need better evidence to better target funding and
programs
NL policy priority:
Robust housing plan built from community up… with targets, timelines, funding, accountability for results
Supports for collaboration / innovation?
In my area, we have people and organizations that are able to effectively work together on good and promising practices: 1. No
2. Yes
3. Not sure
Sometimes best route isn’t obvious: Actual
sign on Banff hiking trail
That
away
Th
isaw
ay
“Wicked” policy problems cannot be “solved” with a program here or an investment there. They require interventions by multiple actors over the long term. We can’t just throw up our hands and say it all is too complex. We need models of policy thinking, strategic investment, and service interventions that address complex problems… Bob Gardner, The Wellesley Institute
“Comprehensive community initiatives have been developed to address exactly
these kinds of issues. CCIs bring together a wide range of service providers, people
with lived experience, community leaders, and other stakeholders to build broad
collaborations to address the roots of local problems in their specific communities.”
Bob Gardner, The Wellesley Institute
Putting together the pieces: Wellesley Institute’s collaboration initiative: • promise + perils of working together
Integrated human services management: • linking housing + other human services
Supporting a robust, dynamic NP sector: • social innovation funding
“Moving from accidental and incidental [collaboration] to intentional and
structured requires resources (from non-profit organizations and funders),
knowledge exchange to share good practices, and a coherent structure that
encourages collaboration and allows for proper monitoring and evaluation.”
- WI collaboration initiative
Spanning spectrum from charity to social purpose business to
commercial enterprise
Social finance / social impact bonds: Putting private money to public good
Sometimes our engagement takes
us in surprising directions, and with
‘unusual’ allies
“Our survey of Toronto housing conditions reveals thousands of families living in houses which are insanitary, verminous, and grossly overcrowded... Bad houses are not only a menace: they are active agents of destruction... they destroy happiness, health and life...”
Dr. H.A. Bruce, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, 1934
Thank you!
www.wellesleyinstitute.com