Are housing amenities meeting the needs of priority groups?
Some tenants have specific needs. The following sections provide results for selected priority populations compared with households who were not in that priority group.
'They haven’t done any of the things that were asked of them including request letters from my doctor asking for appropriate disability modifications.'
– Public housing tenant with a disability
'Still waiting for my roof which is leaking. When it rains water gets inside. And when it rains electricity goes out in half of the house.'
– SOMIH tenant
'It’s very hard to get things done, doesn’t seem to be enough staff to deal with everyone’s needs. You need spend a lot of your time hunting simple things and chasing answers. Also don’t like the way they don’t provide solutions, just reasons why they can’t help. For example, there is no parking but they have no interest in finding or providing a reasonable solution.'
In 2021 (Figure Amenities 2, Table S3.7) among tenants of all social housing programs:
- Indigenous households' needs were met less often than non-Indigenous households for most amenities, in particular, outdoor storage (53% compared with 63% respectively), fixtures for special needs (73% compared with 84%) and number of bedrooms (82% compared with 91%) (Table S3.2).
- Tenant needs were met among households with a person with disability for all surveyed amenities compared with households without a person with a disability, in particular, energy efficiency (69% compared with 81% respectively), structural modifications for special needs (72% compared with 83%), thermal comfort (66% compared with 77%) and fixtures for special needs (75% compared with 85%) (Table S3.3).
- Among tenants who had experienced homelessness in the last 5 years, a lower proportion reported that their needs were met across most amenities compared with other tenant groups, in particular, safety and security of the home or within the neighbourhood, privacy of the home and size of living spaces (Table S3.4).
- Tenants living in households with children less commonly reported their needs were met across most of the amenities compared with those living in households without children, in particular, indoor storage (55% compared with 76% respectively), thermal comfort (59% compared with 77%) and size of living space (73% compared with 90%) (Table S3.5).
'Kids have their own rooms, own space. Closer to schools. Better for everyone's mental health. There are a lot of benefits. Big back yard.'