The need for housing options in Haliburton County is trending towards problematic.
Michelle Corley, the Program Supervisor for the City of Kawartha Lakes’ Housing Help Division, met with the county councillors yesterday. She says the Financially Assisted waiting list for the county and City of Kawartha Lakes has grown by 375 per cent since 2013.
Corley explained that the biggest factor that growth is the fact that the amount of people applying for the waiting list continues to trend upwards, whereas the turnover of people leaving the homes has been trending down.
Another factor to the long waiting list is the amount of housing supply is just not meeting the needs of the demand. There have only been 33 new units created since 2017.
According to the information provided by Corley, in 2018 there were over 1,600 applications for the waiting list and less than 200 people were moved into homes.
Corley explained that the wait time, once you are on the list, varies depending on your location and your needs. But she said that a person in Haliburton County looking for a one-bedroom accommodation can be waiting upwards of three years. Generally speaking, of all the applicants, the average wait time is 4.3 years.
Corley explained that City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County are at the midway point of their collective 10-year housing and homelessness plan. Which means they are revising the plan to include target specific goals and objectives.
Minden Hills Mayor Brent Devolin, although pleased to see the information, raised a point that as municipal councillors, there needs to be more done in terms of lobbying for changes to the Ontario Building Code and the Landlord Tennant Act to make creating housing easier.
