The City of St. John may face an uphill battle in its quest to create more affordable housing.
The results of a survey of 249 landlords and property managers conducted online between May 9 and June 3 show that just under half of those who responded were interested in providing affordable housing in the city.
Citing damages, lost rent and rising costs, most respondents listed people on income support as No. 2 on their list of people they are wary of hiring. People with pets are #1 and students are #3.
“I think there’s certainly a lot of stigma around lower-income people, unfortunately, that exists in the community,” said Ward 2 Councilor Ophelia Ravencroft.
“It’s not always easy to break down,” she said. “The minute some people hear that income support is in the mix, they tend to throw their hands up and say, ‘OK, well, you know, how can I be sure you can pay this?’
But Ravencroft said there was some hope in the survey: 47 percent of respondents were interested in providing affordable rents, compared to 53 who said they were not.
Ward 2 graf. Ophelia Ravencroft says she’s working to remove any stigma surrounding low-income renters. (Vote for Ophelia for Ward 2/Facebook)
Rent costs in St. John are rising and the rental market is competitive to the point of being terrible.
Meanwhile, the city is struggling to get more affordable housing — defined as rent that costs less than 30 percent of pre-tax household income — while renters and landlords grapple with rising costs of living.
“It’s about $650. “It’s really hard to find a place for $650 anywhere in St. John’s, let alone the entire country,” said Doug Pawson, executive director of End Homelessness St. John’s.
“The economics of it are really difficult … for landlords to want to provide affordable housing,” he said.
The survey is not representative of the entire city — most of the respondents were small landlords operating between one and five units, mostly basement apartments or single-family homes, and most of those in central, east and west St. John’s. Few of them had properties downtown, in Shea Heights, or in Mount Pearl.
This really shows that landlords feel – among other things – that there is not enough security to recover costs for missed rent or damage. They also said there were no housing benefit agreements to ensure long-term or permanent tenancy, and a lack of support for complex tenants.
Doug Pawson, executive director of End Homelessness St. John’s, says it’s hard to find truly affordable housing in the city or even the countryside. (Submitted by Doug Pawson)
When asked what would make investing in affordable housing more attractive, the No. 1 answer was a fund to help them recoup the cost of lost rent or damage. Tax breaks and rent allowances were listed second and third, followed by more money to make housing more affordable and energy efficient, and more subsidies attached to rental housing as opposed to renting.
Pawson said End Homelessness St. John’s has a program that can help with some of these costs.
The program, called HomeConnect, provides landlords with guarantees and money to pay for missed rent or damages, Pawson said.
“We rarely need it, and it’s really there to offset the perceived risk of renting to someone on a low income, someone in our case who may be moving out, out of homelessness and into housing.” , he said.
“These little things, these little assurances, can make a big difference, even if it’s just overcoming perception,” Pawson said.
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