Toronto's executive has voted in favour of selling more than 50 unoccupied owned by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation Friday, and will decide on the fate of another 600 after a task force studies the matter.

The vote came after a lengthy debate at City Hall on Friday, which saw only Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday vote against the motion.

Mayor Rob Ford sought to approve the sale of 56 unoccupied homes and hold off on selling the occupied ones until a task force reports back in the fall.

The five-hour meeting saw some 50 deputants speak during the session.

"I'm very glad to see that the council did that," Coun. Paula Fletcher told CP24. It is not that easy to build houses, so it shouldn't be that easy to just get rid of housing."

The city has been debating whether to sell some 675 municipal-owned houses and using the estimated $222 million profit to repair other properties.

TCHC estimates there is $751 million worth of repairs required on its various properties.

"I think that selling off just seemed like the simplest solution but in this conversation that many people have been involved in this city, people are saying ‘let's slow down and look at all of our issues around social housing'," Fletcher said.

The task force will be headed by Coun. Ana Bailao and is expected to present a report to the Executive Committee in October.

Ford took a look at the state of some public housing units himself Thursday evening, touring an apartment complex that had been left in disrepair.

Going door-to-door along 15 floors of 30 Teesdale Place, Ford greeted tenants, handing out business cards and talking about the state of their homes.

Ford questioned tenants about whether their appliances worked, whether the windows were safe and if they had seen bedbugs or cockroaches. Cracks ran down the length of some walls and paint chipped around the corners of some apartments.

Teesdale Place, near Pharmacy Avenue north of Danforth Avenue, is one property the city expects to keep, and some of the profits from selling other units could go to fixing the building.

Ford says the two high-rise buildings at Teesdale Place need more than $16 million in repair over the next five years.

"We need money. We have to fix our existing stock," Ford said Thursday evening.

With files from CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson