The government housing agency says that 40% of low-income housing units need major repairs
In Ville-Marie, which is in the center of Montreal, a man climbs onto the balcony of a barricaded apartment building. He puts up a sign that says “Please save our low-income housing” one nail at a time on the wood of a boarded-up window.
The man with the hammer says that the building used to be home to six low-income families.
Coordinator Pilon gave a tour of the building.Fédération des locataires d’habitations à loyer modique du Québec(FLHLMQ), shows the water damage on the walls and floors.
The kitchen cabinets are open all the way. Drops of water fall into a bucket. He said that the roof hadn’t been changed in 15 years, and water damage had caused dangerous mold to grow on the walls. In 2019, the people had to leave.
On Monday, groups of people who live in HLMs (government low-cost housing) gathered in front of the building that had been blocked off.Habitation à loyer modéré) and politicians from the opposition have asked the Legault government to keep its promises and fix the “rapidly deteriorating” low-income housing units in Quebec.
The groups that speak for the tenants are asking the Quebec government to spend $400 million over the next five years to fix up social housing units.
They say that half of the money should go to Montreal, where, according to the province’s housing agency, there are a lot of homeless people.Société d’habitation du Québec(SHQ) —75% of social housing units are in bad or very bad shape, which is up from 66% the year before.
According to a report from the SHQ dated March 31, 2022, 40.2% of the province’s 64,663 low-cost housing units needed major repairs, up from 28.9% in 2020.
The FLHLMQ’s community organizer, Patricia Viannay, said, “We’re here today because we really need to sound the alarm.”
“How did we get here?” “There is never enough money put into keeping these buildings in good shape.”
The activists say that the Quebec government hasn’t done much with the $2.2 billion it got from the federal government for social housing. They say that only $48.9 million of the $275 million that was set aside for repairs to social housing by 2028 has been spent.
“It’s a real shame,” Viannay said.
And it’s getting more expensive to fix things.
Renovations to the Ville-Marie building would have cost $271,000 in 2020, but now the price is $438,000, which is almost double what it would have been in 2020.
The FLHLMQ says that the SHQ has spent less on renovations in recent years. Between 2015 and 2019, the SHQ spent an average of $352 million on renovations. Between 2019 and 2022, the SHQ will spend an average of $281 million.
“Renovating and saving what already exists is more important than building new buildings,” said Richard Gagné, president of theComité consultatif des résidents (CCR).
CAQ is a target for politicians who are not in CAQ
The Liberal MNA for Mille-Îles and opposition housing and municipal affairs critic, Virginie Dufour, is worried about the growing number of boarded-up low-income buildings.
“What is called affordable housing” is too expensive for the poorest people to buy. “We see that there isn’t enough money being put into social housing that already exists, and that it’s getting worse and worse.”
Former Parti Québécois MNA Méganne Perry Mélancon criticized Francois Legault’s CAQ government.
“I think the Legault government’s inaction hurts people a lot,” she said. “They only help wealthy people who want to build more property.”
Andrés Fontecilla, the MNA for Laurier-Dorion for Quebec Solidaire and the party’s housing critic, also says that Legault is to blame.
“Everyone except the CAQ knows that we are in a housing crisis,” Fontecilla said. He said that if the government doesn’t do anything, there will be more run-down homes and buildings that are closed.
In response, the office of France-Élaine Duranceau, the minister in charge of housing, said in a statement that the full $2.2 billion that is part of the agreement between the federal government and the provinces will be spent on social housing by 2028.
It also said that 70% of housing units are in good shape and that Quebec has spent $1.4 billion on building repairs and renovations with help from federal investments.