- you haven't asked one question. You've just repeated how the Private Sector can't build affordable housing and should have no involvement and it should all be public built and owned housing. You wonder why Saskatchewan has delivered less than 100 truly affordable units in the last calendar month? Because the Non-Profits and the Government Can't. I am not advocating to repeat what has been previously done, because the one thing we can agree on, it clearly doesn't work. We either get NO housing or POORLY Managed Housing, or limited housing to a specific demographic of the population.
Government Owned Housing? Regina Housing Authority. What's the vacancy Rate there?
I don't really think my comment was passive aggressive. It was pretty direct. An article that spelled out what the previous two Mayors had said/done from a Council Vote standpoint. Its pretty hard to hammer the current Mayor on promises of previous Mayors and Council to push forward pet projects...or push through nothing...
Housing is a Human Right. It should be provided for All. Full Stop.
Status Quo...is Non-Profits building a few units here and a few units there as the operational capacities of the specific organizations can handle it. The Feds provided RHI funding and I believe Silver Sage project which has yet to breakdown is the only Regina Project to get it.
Building Ghettos of nothing but Affordable Housing, Social Housing do nothing to help the segment of the population. If you amass it all in one place, one development you create a massive Ghetto that exacerbates the social, addiction, mental health challenges.
We need to stop sending our tax dollars overseas and focus more on our at home problems to resolve. There are Developers in Vancouver that are partnering with Non-Profit Social Housing providers to build a mixture of Market, Affordable and Social Housing while also providing the supports that are needed for addictions, mental health, PTSD, Victims of Abuse etc etc etc. That is what we should be building.
Why the Private Sector? Because even with the Private Sector making a REASONABLE profit the private sector still builds housing more cost effectively, efficiently, and quicker than public sector housing projects. Why? Because the profit is tied to it being built. Housing can have a standard of quality set that negates the ability for the private sector to cut corners, which is an unfortunate reality of some builders and developers in this sector.
Regina specifically has a proven track record that Publicly Owned Housing doesn't work with the specific example of the Regina Housing Authority and its vacancy rate and condition of the building.
Social Housing/Private Sector Mixed Housing is becoming completed around North America with far more success than a RHA model.