The mayor's appointed leader of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation is putting forward a plan to raise $400 million by selling up to 900 houses.
Case Ootes, the managing director of the TCHC, announced Thursday that the money would go toward repairs in the company's 57,000 other units. The proposal was made with less than a week to go with Ootes at the helm of the organization.
He said that each of the 900 houses would require $62,400 to $175,000 per unit to be repaired up to "fair condition as defined by industry standards," over the next 10 years. The TCHC's apartment units will require only $32,400 of repairs per unit.
"Selling houses and applying the proceeds to the repair backlog is a better option than raising taxes, raising rents which cannot legally be done, diverting money from other city programs or doing nothing," said Ootes.
The TCHC said that many units sit vacant and cost the corporation money with lost rental fees. It said existing housing rules limit a landlord's ability to help tenants get repairs done quickly.
"Affordable housing landlords need more freedom to maximize taxpayer-paid-for assets to benefit the greatest number of people that need subsidized housing. Landlords shouldn't have to trip over red tape to do the right thing for taxpayers and tenants," said Ootes.
More than 165,000 tenants currently live in the TCHC's housing units, with another 77,000 on the waiting list.
A spokesperson for Mayor Rob Ford said he "appreciates all of the hard work Case Ootes has done under challenging circumstances. The new TCHC board has a great deal of work ahead of them."
The TCHC said it would help tenants find alternative housing if the proposal is approved by the company's board of directors, the City of Toronto and the provincial government.
City councillors opposed a similar TCHC announcement in May to sell 22 homes at a market value of about $17 million.
Coun. Adam Vaughan said the decision to sell the 22 houses was short-sighted, saying the homes' value wouldn't make a dent in the cost of repairing the rest of the city's assets.
"If there is a $650 million backlog and it does double every year, it will be $1.2 million this time next year," Vaughan said. "Which means the money we're raising here is nothing. A drop in the bucket while a bonfire rages outside our door."
Dozens of people attended a public meeting on May 24, pleading for the company to vote down the motion.
"I'm begging, I'm begging. And it takes a lot for me to beg. And I just ask for you to think it over before any final decisions are made," tenant Heather O'Neill said in the meeting.
Other tenants called the decision to sell off the homes the first step toward privatizing social housing.
With files from CTV Toronto's Alicia Markson
