The mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, presented on Monday her city's new housing strategy, which aims to increase the share of non-profit rental housing in her area to 20%, currently 4.2%. The municipality wants to achieve this in particular “by supporting social, community and non-profit developers in their efforts to acquire existing housing”.
This document, obtained by Le Devoir, notes that non-profit rental housing – which includes social, community and collective housing – is defined by “sustaining affordability for its residents in all weather conditions”. Since these apartments are owned by a public or common owner who does not use them with the intention of making a profit, their rental is subject to little or no law of supply and demand.
“This ambitious goal [de 20 %]Shared by many stakeholders in the housing sector, it aims to provide affordable housing to the first fifth of the population, that is, the share of renter households that cannot find acceptable housing on the private market, according to the Canadian Census, writes Ms. Fournier.
She explains that this plan is based on reflections made after the first housing summit in August 2022, of which her municipality was a co-initiator together with Laval.
The strategy published on Monday shows that one of the indicators of the need for action in housing construction is the vacancy rate. While this varies in Longueuil depending on the type of apartment, rent and location of the building in the city, the share of the total rental stock in 2022 was 1%.
Support existing affordability
In this context, the mayor intends to reach the threshold of 20% of non-profit rental housing in her area by implementing measures to promote the sale of existing affordable housing. The plan therefore aims in particular to establish within two years a “mechanism for identifying rental property sales and voluntarily declaring interest in withdrawing them from the market”.
More broadly, the strategy is looking at various ways to address the current housing crisis, including increasing supply. In order to achieve this, one of the goals is to reduce the hurdles and barriers in housing construction. For example, the city is giving itself two years to “simplify and harmonize urban planning regulations.” [afin d’]“increase the predictability of the approval of construction projects”.
Ms Fournier would then like to improve access to quality housing, for example by encouraging the maintenance of rental properties in good condition. In the short term, she would particularly like to “build a partnership with local organizations to better identify hygiene problems in households”. The Mayor recalls that these measures are within the current powers of the municipalities. The implementation of the strategy will therefore continue to develop “according to possible changes in the law”.
This housing plan is just a first step, emphasizes Catherine Fournier. It is part of a “long-term mission aimed at restoring and ensuring a recurring, affordable and quality housing offer for all households in Longueuil”.