A special meeting in North Perth on May 16th spent its entire 4 hour session dedicated to homelessness and affordable housing.
The Housing Forum heard from a variety of local groups on the topic including Stratford’s Social Services Department, United Way Perth-Huron and Perth County’s Planning Department.
The social services department took a snapshot of households in North Perth which saw 71 per cent of households in the municipality are owned and 28.7 per cent rent their homes.
Director Kim McElroy from Stratford’s Social Services Department says their role is to help on homelessness prevention and housing stability services.
McElroy notes as of December 31st 2022 there were 129 households in Perth County experiencing homelessness.
Jennifer Richardson a Real Estate Broker says finding a home or even managing the price to rent is an issue locally.
“A single family house for rent, if you can find one is going to be $2500-3000 plus utilities. Semi-detached you can rent around 1850-2200, a townhome around 2200-2600 and that’s where a lot of seniors are going. A one bedroom is 1350-1550 this would be like a basement apartment or accessory unit.” said Richardson.
A complete breakdown of housing prices, average monthly rent and homelessness was discussed throughout the meeting.
North Perth Mayor Todd Kasenberg expressed his concern on how can youth ever manage to afford a place to live or rent in the future while Councilor Allan Rothwell pointed to it being a supply issue adding while the province says they are doing everything they can, he believes they aren’t.
Next steps currently are to have a report brought to North Perth council.
The municipalities Strategic Initiatives Department plan is looking towards housing affordability and attainable as some key principles.