Report highlights need for affordable housing in Medicine Hat

To top it off, she said the rising cost of rent has made it even more challenging.

“Right now I am looking at a price range of $1700, and I am a single mom, and I do have a low income, and I do have a lot of medical reasons which prevents me from working full-time, therefore I can only afford a certain amount, so it is really hard,” she said.

Tiffany is not alone. The Medicine Hat Housing Strategy, highlights a need for more affordable rentals in the city.

Data was collected back in 2019 and its findings were recently released.

According to the report, nearly one-fifth of households (19.8 per cent) in the city were facing housing affordability issues and 7.1 per cent were facing severe housing affordability issues. That number was even greater for low income households. The report classifies a low-income household as a household earning $48,652 or less. The households could afford a maximun rent of $1,216 and

a maximum house price of $192,400.

More than half of households identified as low income (53. 9 per cent) were facing housing affordability issues and 23.5 per cent were facing severe affordable housing issues. A total of 31.3 per cent of households were in core housing need. That means individuals spend over 30 per cent of their income on housing expenses.

“ That does not leave enough income for the month to meet their other needs,” explained Robin Miiler chief administrative officer of the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society.

In addition, in 2019 , there were 489 people on waitlists for community housing, a number Miiler said has remained relatively stable

“The number hasn’t really changed too much. We have experienced fluctuations that we see periodically as we see new programs come out. For example, when the federal government released CERB we saw a bit of a decrease in the number of people on our waitlist. But we always see that come right back up again when the benefit that they have accessed is depleted,” Miiler said.

Across the city, housing supply issues are still occurring. Back in April CHAT News spoke to Jay Johnson, owner of Rent Better Property Management, and he said demand is high for single family homes and the city’s hot housing market has depleted supply further, as landlords put their properties up for sale.

“Right now we may have two or three that may be available with us and as soon as we put it on the market we will have probably between 10 to 15 maybe even 20 applications within the first few days,” he said.

The Medicine Hat Housing Strategy makes a number of recommendations to increase housing supply one of which includes housing targets to address the gaps. The housing society calls for 30 per cent of all new housing to be built for people in the low-income housing group. Of the affordable units, the strategy calls for 15 per cent of units to be barrier-free and 20 per cent of units to be supportive housing to help people with cognitive disabilities or mental health issues.

The report also calls for a 20 unit renovation target for rental properties for people in the moderate-income range.

The Medicine Hat Housing Strategy will be used by the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society and the City of Medicine Hat to address housing needs. The city said the strategy will be used as a guide and some of the recommendations surrounding land use, and secondary suites have been implemented in the newly adopted Municipal Development Plan.

As for Chesney, it continues to be a stressful waiting game. She’s hoping to move to Medicine Hat with her kids by the time school starts in September.

“I have excellent references. I just need someone to give me, and my family a chance with my dog.” she said.

A look at the report can be found here.

by Tiffany Goodwein

Report highlights need for affordable housing in Medicine Hat

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