Nanaimo housing crunch ‘terribly dire,’ advocate says

Nanaimo’s affordable housing crunch has created a “terribly dire” situation, says Jim Spinelli.

Every day, four of five calls come into his office from people seeking low-cost housing, said Spinelli, executive director of Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society.

“We need more subsidized housing.”

That type of housing is critical to people who are facing homelessness, he said.

It’s been shown that providing housing for vulnerable people can stabilize their lives and avoid a myriad of problems that can develop if they end up on the street, he said.

The City of Nanaimo has said it recognizes the situation and is developing an affordable housing strategy. It is aimed at evaluating the situation, determining what is needed, setting priorities, and outlining options.

One of the issues: more than half of Nanaimo’s rental households spend more than 30 per cent (the recommended maximum set by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.) of income on housing, a city staff report said.

Even more telling is that one out of four renter households spends more than 50 per cent on housing. And nearly all of those households bring in less than $23,835 annually, the report said.

What this shows is that the people who can least afford it are spending the greatest amount of their income on a place to live.

Spinelli said it would be easy to immediately fill 1,000 units if they suddenly became available.

A combination of factors has created the housing crunch, he said. These include a lag in construction of new rental units, a tight rental market with an estimated 1.5 per cent vacancy rate, rising rental fees and increasing real estate prices.

The province has announced it will spend a total of $355 million on affordable housing to create 2,000-plus affordable housing units in five years. Projects announced in November include support for Nanaimo non-profit agencies, including Spinelli’s group.

Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society has more than 220 units in seven housing complexes. It is among social agencies, including Pacifica Housing, that offer housing.

Another 150 units would be part of a proposed phased expansion of the society’s Buttertubs seniors complex, to be built with announced and anticipated provincial support. The expansion will feature mixed market-priced housing, Spinelli said.

In Nanaimo, 5,000 people receive social assistance and disability allowances, with $375 per month allocated for shelter, Spinelli said.

He has heard there are about 200 homeless people in the community but it is difficult to be precise. “I always say: ‘Take the numbers and double them.’ ”

Nanaimo city hall will continue working on its affordable housing strategy, with the goal of finalizing it, taking it to a public hearing, and adopting it between July and September next year.

cjwilson@timescolonist.com