Hundreds on waitlist for affordable housing in Haldimand-Norfolk

Roughly 400 people are waiting for affordable housing in Haldimand-Norfolk, and that wait will continue for up to ten years.

The mayor of Norfolk County, Amy Martin, says plenty of applications for housing developments have been approved, but few have begun.

“Lots of development files coming into the planning department, we’re breaking annual records to build,” Martin said.

But the mayor says – like many other communities in the province – Norfolk County isn’t seeing a lot of shovels in the ground. And the houses that are built, aren’t affordable.

“Traditionally here in Norfolk County we see a lot of single detached dwellings being built, so we’re looking to see those other types being developed in our community,” Martin said.

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In the meantime, there’s a long wait list across Haldimand-Norfolk for affordable, subsidized housing.

“Across our two communities, we have 400 eligible community members sitting on that wait list from anywhere from 7 to 10 years,” Martin said.

The affordable housing situation is so bad in Norfolk County, one man has lived here for eight years and still can’t find a decent place to live.

Simcoe resident Norm Airdrie says he’s paying a lot of money right now for a less than ideal living situation.

“It’s very hard, there’s not much around that isn’t like two thousand bucks for a one-bedroom even,” Airdrie said.

“Seven hundred for a room in a house, how many roommates do you have, there are two other rooms up there.”

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Martin says the answer is simple, but expensive, and will take some flexibility.

“We need to encourage the development community to build accessory dwelling units, can we build a duplex/townhouse, and in ten per cent of the entire development can we create a turnkey rental unit in the basement, as soon as the buyer moves in themselves,” Martin said.

And on Tuesday, County council voted against submitting a housing pledge to the province, though that topic will be discussed again next week.