Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (2005) 20: 321–324 DOI: 10.1007/s10901-005-9016-3

Ó Springer 2005

Book review

Finding Room: Policy Options for a Canadian Rental Housing Strategy, J. David Hulchanski and Michael Shapcott (Eds.), CUCS Press, University of Toronto, 2004, CAD$29.95, 453 pp. In June 2003, the Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto hosted a policy forum on a new national rental housing strategy, which was an innovative collaboration by the TD Bank and Financial Group (private sector), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (federal government) and the University of Toronto (Academia). It is commendable that the book based on the forum, published shortly after, was focussed on housing the poorest half of the Canadian renter households. The book is well edited by Hulchanski and Shapcott, except for some minor glitches of missing figures cited (page 30) as present in an appendix on page 41. The book consists of three sections: Setting the context; Perspectives on the current situation; and Options for an affordable housing strategy. There are 27 chapters by various authors, followed by appendices, including a glossary of housing terms and some key UN and Canadian documents on housing as a right, and concluding with an index. The topic is addressed from multiple viewpoints: housing policy issues related to affordable rental housing; the role of providers and funders (federal and provincial governments, municipalities, non-profit organizations, co-operatives); and those in need of affordable rental housing (immigrants, aboriginal households, homeless). By this means, the book intertwines the political with the personal, covering chronologically policy impacts on the housing stock and the households in greatest need over the last few decades. The authors stray into advocacy once in awhile but, for the most part, the analyses are solid. The policy failures related to the divergence between owners and renters markets are highlighted, and a strong case is made for examining the provision of housing from the low end of the rent scale. Trickle-down effects were not evident; therefore, the success of rental housing policies are better judged by the production of affordable rental housing rather than rental housing stock as a whole. This is an important contribution to the housing policy debate.

322

BOOK REVIEW

Canadian housing policy is unique because of the jurisdictional arrangements between the three levels of government, the heavy reliance on market solutions, and the strong bias towards promoting home ownership. Authors, therefore, analyse federal, provincial, and municipal housing strategies and make specific and often quite detailed recommendations for policy reform. For instance, housing is not specifically assigned to any level of government in the constitution (British North America Act). However, over time responsibilities for housing have been shifted from being a joint responsibility between federal and provincial governments to provinces and municipalities taking a major role. Consistently, authors point to the shortcomings of this approach and have urged a stronger role for the federal government and greater co-ordination between policy strategies of the three levels of government. For instance, taxation policies of the federal government (Goods and Services Tax [GST] and capital gains) are not co-ordinated with provincial taxes (provincial sales tax) or municipal taxes (property, development) and work to the detriment of rental housing supply. There are parallel situations where such scrutiny can be applied to joint action by multiple government departments as well – for example, for the provision of housing with services. Critics have also pointed to the deleterious impacts of ‘‘on again – off again’’ policies and the unilateral withdrawal from costsharing strategies by one level of government or the other. The overview chapters (Chapter 2: Affordable housing in Canada: In search of a new paradigm, by Drummond, Burleton and Manning; Chapter 13: A new paradigm for affordable housing, by Drummond; and Chapter 20: Towards a comprehensive affordable housing strategy for Canada, by Pomeroy), each based on a longer analytical report already in the public domain, together form a strong trilogy on national rental policy reform. Though a national standpoint is sprinkled throughout the book, the case most closely investigated is the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto. Therefore, while the identification of problem issues might hold for Canadian policy, some of the specific interventions recommended in many chapters may not be widely applicable to other provinces and cities. Canada has a very small social housing sector, and additions to it are minimal while the demand for such housing is rising. Production, maintenance and retention are vital. This sector is not sheltered from the market as in many other countries; in fact, it has to produce housing under existing tax, regulatory and market rent regimes. It is clear that major per unit subsidies are required to produce such hous-

BOOK REVIEW

323

ing and to ensure low rent. These social housing units operate at cost and remain affordable in perpetuity. Yet, the predilection for market solutions has resulted in a schizophrenic response supporting inadequately both private landlords and non-profit housing organizations. Advice is provided to the non-profit sector to be more businesslike and to the private sector to exercise more corporate citizenship by donating rather than demolishing rental property with insufficient returns to investment. The advocates of supply policies and demand policies have reached a rapprochement in this book that is long overdue. Without both approaches, the balance between the ownership and rental sector cannot be maintained. Demand policies are analysed, in different parts of the book, considering the advantages of vouchers, rent supplements tied to units owned by private landlords, and shelter allowances as part of welfare. Governments in Canada have been reluctant to make long-term commitments, have reduced available payments, and have wished to avoid a ‘‘culture of dependency’’. However, authors have rightly challenged this view and have pointed to the potential savings to the taxpayer when expenditures across government are taken into account. Though focussed on Canada, the book also holds wider value in the international context because a number of the housing policy dilemmas are more universal in nature. A strong business case is made for the contribution of affordable housing to vibrant communities. How could Canada, with its high-quality and relatively young stock and high proportion of home ownership, face the possibility of a growing underclass with major housing problems? The United States and Canada have been leaders in promoting the ‘‘dream’’ of home ownership to all, overemphasizing its advantages and virtues. Home owners were considered more successful, better citizens and more responsible for their housing, while renters were not. Renting was considered either a step before home ownership or a less desirable option. Such a view ignores the changes in society, where there are ‘‘lifetime renters’’ and where home ownership is less suitable at certain stages of life. The chapters in the first section provide a cautionary tale. A thorough reading of the book shows that resting on the laurels of high housing standards in the past is risky and that deepening problems cost a great deal of effort to reverse. Stable long-term investment, it appears, is better than rectification, but it requires governments to take bold action for the future well-being of their citizens.

324 Satya Brink 4 Brink Road Chelsea, Quebec J9B 2C6 Canada E-mail: [email protected]

BOOK REVIEW