Q1 (January 1 to March 31, 2021) to Board of Directors

Recommendation:

That Niagara Regional Housing Quarterly Report October 1 to December 31, 2020 be APPROVED and FORWARDED to the Public Health and Social Services Committee and subsequently to Regional and Municipal Councils for information.

Submitted by:	Approved by:
Donna Woiceshyn Chief Executive Officer	Walter Sendzik Chair

Highlights:

Appliction Activity 610 received & processed	Work Orders 2,532 issued
Capital Program 26 purchase orders issued 11 public tender closed 19 project ongoing	Rent Arrears = $113,653.13 or 8.79% of the monthly rent charges
Community Resources & Partnerships Offered supports to 398 new referrals Had partnerships with 13 community agencies	Non-Profit Housing Programs 61% deemed HEALTHY
Rent Supplement/Housing Allowance 1,702 units 29 new landlords	Niagara Renovates 2021-2022 inspections commenced 14 homeowners are approved for funding
Welcome Home Niagara 4 homeowners received assistance	Housing First Project 6 Individuals / families housed
Appeals = 8 7 upheld 1 overturned	New Development Hawkins/Dell approximately 53% complete

As the administrator of social housing for Niagara Region, Niagara Regional Housing (NRH) works to fulfill our vision and mission through six main areas of responsibility:

1. Public Housing (NRH Owned Units)
2. Non-Profit Housing Programs
3. Rent Supplement Program
4. Affordable Housing Program
5. Service Manager Responsibilities
6. Housing Access Centre and Centralized Waiting List

DAY-TO-DAY MAINTENANCE:

In Q1, 2,532 work orders were issued, representing $383,278.90. $16,688 of this amount was charged back to tenants who were held responsible for damages.

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
# of work orders issued	2,575	2,303	2,656	2,500	2,532

Work orders continued to be lower due to COVID-19 with a slight increase in Q1; emergency maintenance continued within COVID guidelines.

CAPITAL PROGRAM:

The Capital Program is responsible for maintaining the Public Housing (NRH Owned Units) asset and planning for future sustainability.

In Q1, 26 purchase orders were issued and 11 publid tenders closed.

The Capital Program was responsible for 19 capital projects and 28 purchase orders valued at $3,214,884:

• Projects
  • 479 Carlton Street – window replacements and wall system repairs
  • Scott Street – window replacements
  • 45 Ormond Street – window replacements
  • 15 Gale Crescent – parking lot replacement
  • 30 Robinson Street – exterior insulation and finish system
  • 4278 Huron Street – exterior insulation and finish system
  • 52 Ormond Street North – building renovations
  • 10 Old Pine Trail – bathroom replacements
  • Powerview Avenue/Galbraith Street/Wallace Street – bathrooms
  • 300 Davy Street – parking lot replacement
  • 3874 Portage Road – parking lot replacement
  • 124 Elmview Street – elevator modifications
  • 211 King Street – elevator modifications
  • Various locations - upgrading heating systems
• 27 RFPs and RFQs – various consulting services, elevator investigations, health and safety repairs, structural repairs (roofing) and pavement retrofits

As of March 31, 2020, $8,275,274 of the 2020 & 2021 budgets ($15,534,858), excluding emergency, has been committed and or actually spent (53%).

TENANT MOVE OUTS:

Move Outs By Reason

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
# of move outs	62	57	90	68	49

ARREARS:

NRH Housing Operations actively works to reduce rent arrears but saw a continued increase in 2020-Q4 due to COVID-19 and tenants not paying rent due to the provincial no eviction order.

	Mar 31, 2020	Jun 30, 2020	Sept 30, 2020	Dec 31, 2020	Mar 31, 2021
Rent charges for the month	$1,302,721.00	$1,289,907.00	$1,295,815.00	$1,309,353.00	$1,292,287.00
Accumulated rent arrears	$71,135.25	$110,958.69	$113,204.57	$115,555.92	$113,634.13
Arrears %	5.46%	8.60%	8.74%	8.80%	8.79%

INSURANCE:

In Q1, there was one property damage claim expected to exceed the $25,000 deductible and three notice of claims delivered.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND PARTNERSHIPS:

Due to COVID-19, in Q4, we had partnerships with 13 community agencies across Niagara. As a result of these partnerships, 199 units¹ of support and enrichment activities were offered to tenants at NRH sites. Each partnership contributes to tenant lives and, in turn, the success of the Public Housing community as a whole:

¹Tracking for support and enrichment activities has changed – we are now tracking it by units. Each time a partner is in a community providing a support and enrichment program or activity, it is counted as one unit.

In order to comply with COVID restrictions, partners continued to focus on virtual programming and care package deliveries to support tenants in Public Housing units, including fruit baskets, hygiene kits, grocery deliveries and activity kits. In January, NRH partnered with Niagara Emergency Medical Services to bring flu vaccines to seniors in Centre Street (St. Catharines) and Portage Road, Huron Street and Ailanthus Avenue (Niagara Falls). In March, the Community Resource Unit partnered with Niagara Region Community Services Seniors Programs and Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities (SAEO) to assist seniors over 80 years old to book COVID vaccines and arrange transportation to the clinics.

Also during Q1, CPCs offered supports to 398 new referrals of tenants in need of assistance. Of those new referrals, 45% were considered medium-high need, (e.g. child safety concerns, eviction, social issues, cognitive concerns). In particular, social issues continued to increase in NRH and Housing Provider communities, many of which stemmed from issues regarding noise. With stay-at-home orders, tenants and members are now home and more aware of, and sensitive to, the sounds of living in close quarters. NRH Community Programs Coordinators (CPCs) attempt to mediate as much as possible to prevent these issues from escalating.

Eviction Prevention and supports have been extended to Housing Providers and the Rent Supplement program on a pilot basis through Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) funding. There is one full-time Community Program Coordinator (CPC) for Non-Profits/Co-operatives and one dedicated half to Rent Supplement and half to assisting with NRH-Owned units.

As administrator of social housing for Niagara Region, NRH provides legislative oversight for 57 Non-Profit Housing Programs (non-profit and co-operative). Operational Reviews are conducted to determine the overall health of each.

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
Healthy	37	37	38	36	35
Routine Monitoring	21	21	18	18	17
Intensive Monitoring	0	0	2	3	2
Pre-PID (Project in Difficulty)	1	1	1	1	2
PID (Project in Difficulty)	1	1	1	1	1
TOTAL	60	60	60	59	57

NRH Programs continue to support Providers to keep operations going during COVID. Working toward End of Mortgage (EOM)/End of Operating Agreements (EOA) for Providers, the Loan and Grant Program was rolled out; any recipients will remain a part of Housing Services for an additional 15 years. This preservation of units is essential. January 1, 2021 marked the end of agreement with Joi de Vivre, a Federal provider. Despite the end of agreement, they will continue to maintain their rent supplement units resulting in a net loss of only five units.

Rent Supplement/Housing Allowance

In the Rent Supplement program, tenants pay 30% of their gross monthly income directly to the private landlord and NRH subsidizes the difference up to the market rent for the unit. The Housing Allowance program is a short-term program that provides a set allowance to help applicants on the wait list. In Q1, there were 1,702 Rent Supplement/Housing Allowance units across Niagara.

Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB)

The COHB is a portable rent benefit that helps applicants on the Centralized Waiting List pay their rent to their current landlord in the private market. In Q3, 230 applications for were sent to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing on behalf of Niagara residents in need of housing. At the end of 2021-Q1, 268 of these applications had been accepted.

In-Situ Rent Supplement

An In-Situ Rent Supplement program has been developed to engage new landlords and offer applicants on the Centralized Waiting List an opportunity to receive Rent-Geared-to-Income assistance where they currently live. This removes the need for moving related expenses and broadens the network of landlords in business with NRH. In Q1, NRH initiated new agreements with 29 new landlords.

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
Fort Erie	32	31	31	30	27
Grimsby	18	22	21	21	23
Lincoln (Beamsville)	14	14	12	12	12
Niagara Falls	237	226	220	213	218
Niagara-on-the-Lake	5	4	4	8	10
Pelham	17	17	17	17	17
Port Colborne	67	64	61	60	60
St. Catharines	798	751	712	701	715
Thorold	61	61	61	61	66
Welland	192	259	302	284	270
West Lincoln	16	16	16	16	16
COHB Region-wide			206	245	268
TOTAL	1,457	1,465	1,663	1,668	1,702

Variance in the Rent Supplement program are a reflection of fluctuation between agreements ending and new agreements taken up with landlords.

NIAGARA RENOVATES PROGRAM:

The Niagara Renovates program provides assistance to low-to-moderate income homeowners for home repairs, accessibility modifications and the creation of secondary suites in single family homes. NRH received $651,871 through the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) for all three streams of the program.

Inspections for new applicants for the 2021-2022 funding cycle have commenced. Inspections of completed work are being verified by homeowner photographs. Formal inspections will take place as soon as possible and will include all areas inside and outside of the home to ensure compliance with program guidelines. Issues will be identified and a detailed Inspection Report provided to the homeowner.

As of the New Year, new applications are beginning to be processed in order to begin work as quickly as possible in the spring.

14 homeowners are currently approved for funding and NRH is working toward streamlining the program as we become more proficient at working under the COVID rules.

HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAM – "WELCOME HOME NIAGARA":

The Homeownership program assists low-to-moderate income rental households to purchase their first home by providing a down payment loan.

In April 2020, NRH received $100,000 through the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) program.

In Q1, four homeowners received assistance through Welcome Home Niagara.

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
# of homeowners assisted	4	5	7	7	4

HOUSING FIRST PROGRAM:

The Housing First program helps people move quickly from homelessness to their own home by providing supports to help difficult to house individuals find and keep housing.

In Q1, six individuals/families were housed through the Housing First program. Since 2012, Housing First has helped 467 individuals/families.

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
# individuals/families housed	13	9	7	13	6
# of Housing First units (at quarter end)	199	201	195	187	972

17 of these Housing First units were created with NRH’s new development at 527 Carlton Street in St. Catharines.

²Previous stats for Housing First (2012 to the end of 2020) included the original pilot agency numbers. With the New Housing First Agreement, pilot agencies continue to support their clients but are no longer considered Housing First – as a result, those stats have been removed from the numbers reported.

RENTAL HOUSING (NEW DEVELOPMENT & OTHER ACQUISITIONS):

NRH New Development

Project	Description	Current Phase	Timeline	Development Cost
1. Niagara Falls - NRH - Hawkins Avenue	Two 3-storey apartments with 73 units (building A = 55 units; building B = 18 units)	Construction – buildings weather-tight	Occupancy January	$21 million
2. Welland – NRH – York Street & Duncan Street (POA land)	4-storey apartment – Modular construction with 32 units, as per current Schematic Design	Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) funding application submitted Dec. 2020; unsuccessful at this time	Project is currently delayed until future RHI funding round(s) or alternate funding sources confirmed; anticipated 10-month construction schedule	$10.4 million
3. Niagara Falls – NRH / Community Services	Retrofit / Conversion of 2-storey historic building to 20 transitional housing units with on-site medical services and support programs	Design complete; tender issued for Design-Build contractor	Occupancy required December 2021	$2.9 million
4. Niagara Falls – NRH / Community Services	Retrofit / Conversion of 2-storey motel to 25 shelter units	Property acquired by NRH; tenders for Design & Construction to be issued by June 2021	Occupancy required December 2021	$3.94 million
5. Thorold Municipal Non-Profit	5-storey apartment with 60 units	Full Design Phase & Site Plan Agreement	Break ground May 2021; occupancy December 2022	$18 million; this project has been approved for $4.6 million in funding for brownfield remediation through the PTIF-SCF Small Communities Fund.
6. Fort Erie (NRH currently retained as Project Manager)	10-storey apartment with 62 units	Schematic design complete; Official Plan & Zoning Amendment applications to be submitted Dec. 2020; Federal Co-Investment funding application in progress	Break ground November 2021; occupancy March 2023	$18.6 million
7. Port Colborne (NRH currently retained as Project Manager)	Multi-unit apartment with 40 units	Initiation – land acquisition / rezoning & Seed funding application	Break ground April 2022; building completion July 2023	$13 million
8. Smithville (NRH currently retained as Project Manager)	Multi-unit apartment with 60 units	Initiation – business case & Seed Funding application	Break ground April 2022; building completion August 2023	$19.5 million
9. Welland – CCHN (Charitable Cultural Holdings Niagara) & Rankin	Affordable housing apartment building (CCHN) with 90 units; Market condo building (Rankin) with 30 units	City of Niagara Falls currently developing RFP	Break ground May 2021; occupancy June 2022	Unknown
10. Regional negotiated RFP – various owners	Niagara Region negotiated RFP for housing development – three projects have been selected, representing 175 units total; 37%, or 65 units, to be affordable	Design phase	TBD	$1.7 million to be divided between three proposed projects

Affordable Housing Unit #'s by Municipality

	NRH Owned	Housing Providers	Rent Supplement	New Development
Fort Erie	116	354	44	0
Grimsby	55	0	23	0
Lincoln (Beamsville)	61	41	14	0
Niagara Falls	884	828	274	140
NOTL	40	0	8	0
Pelham	0	0	20	0
Port Colborne	88	139	71	35
St. Catharines	1,017	1,608	796	346
Thorold	29	85	70	46
Welland	394	425	341	167
West Lincoln (Smithville)	0	86	16	0
Region-wide	2,684	3,564	1,677	734*

Note: there are no affordable housing units in Wainfleet
*166 New Development units are NRH Owned

APPEALS:

In Q1, NRH continued to hear appeals virtually. This process has been going well and eight appeals were heard (seven upheld, one overturned).

	2020-Q1	2020-Q2	2020-Q3	2020-Q4	2021-Q1
# of appeals	11	0	15	15	8

INVESTMENTS:

See Addendum #1.

APPLICATION ACTIVITY:

CENTRALIZED WAITING LIST:

		2020- Q1	2020- Q2	2020- Q3	2020- Q4	2021- Q1
		# of households
A	Rent-Geared-to-income (RGI) waiting list:
	Niagara resident RGI waiting list	5,322	5,264	5,296	5,425	5,,507
	Applicants from outside Niagara	1,045	1,078	1,129	1,173	1,204
TOTAL RGI waiting list:		6,367	6,342	6,425	6,598	6,711
	Housing Allowance: a set allowance to help applicants on the waiting list with affordability in the private market until housed in an RGI unit	739	723	702	669	648
A1	RGI waiting list demographics:
	Seniors	2,514	2,487	2,506	2,557	2,564
	Adults no dependents	2,041	2,026	2,049	2,137	2,172
	Adults with dependents	1,812	1,829	1,870	1,904	1,975
A2	RGI list further segmented (#’s included in A & A1):
	SPP – Special Provincial Priority (Ministry Priority): helps victims of violence separate permanently from their abuser	146	142	128	132	116
	URG – Urgent (Local Priority): for applicants with mobility barriers and/or extreme hardship where their current accommodation puts them at extreme risk and/or causes hardship	152	144	135	153	152
	UHML – Homeless (Local Priority): provides increased opportunity for placement to homeless households	1,145	1,119	1,134	1,146	1,132
	SUP – Supportive/Transitional: provides targeted, provisional services to assist individuals to transition beyond basic needs to more permanent housing	23	10	11	11	10
B	In addition, NRH manages:
	Overhoused: households who are living in subsidized accommodation with more bedrooms than they are eligible for	176	173	157	145	145
	Transfer: households who are currently living in subsidized accommodation and have requested a transfer to another provider	635	637	660	656	675
TOTAL RGI households on waiting list managed by NRH:		7,178	7,152	7,242	7,399	7,531
C	NRH maintains a waiting list for market rent units (62 Non-Profit Housing Programs):
	Market: applicants who have applied for a market rent unit in the Non-Profit Housing Programs portfolio	810	805	808	829	861
TOTAL households on waiting list managed by NRH:		7,988	7,157	8,050	8,228	8,392
TOTAL individuals on waiting list managed by NRH:		14,197	14,180	14,429	14,737	15,125

Note: the above chart includes only those who apply to the Centralized Waiting List and does not capture the full number of those in need of affordable housing in Niagara.

ESTIMATED WAIT TIMES:

CITY	SENIORS Age 55 and older		SINGLES Age 16-54		HOUSEHOLDS WITH DEPENDENTS
	Bachelor	1 Bed	Bachelor	1 Bed	2 Bed	3 Bed	4 Bed	5 Bed
	YEARS
Forst Erie	-	11	3	7	2	2	6	-
Grimsby	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lincoln	-	6	-	10	6	10	-	-
Niagara Falls	5	7	-	18	5	5	12	16
Niagara-on-the-Lake	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-
Port Colborne	-	8	-	12	5	3	4	-
St. Catharines	-	5	9	16	3	3	3	11
Thorold	-	7	-	13	3	11	-	-
Welland	-	6	7	16	7	3	8	7
West Lincoln	-	5	-	-	10	6	-	-

- no units of this size available in this community

Please note:

• wait time information can fluctuate and is an approximation only
• wait times may not reflect the actual time one may wait for affordable housing