Help Stop Renovictions and Save Affordable Housing
There’s a powerful program in Toronto that can help stop renovictions and permanently hold onto the affordable housing we have left in this city before it’s gone forever. Now we need the Mayor and Councillors to step up with more support to save even more homes.
They’re voting on February 17 as part of the City’s 2022 Budget. Use our petition below to send a message to your city councillor and the mayor to tell them to invest more in affordable housing.
More Information on the MURA Program
Why we need to save existing affordable housing
Governments are building new affordable housing, but Toronto is losing existing affordable housing faster than we can build it. People are losing their homes. We need to build new housing and advocate for real rent control. We also need to secure existing housing as permanently affordable — fast.
According to the City of Toronto, on average there are 17,000 eviction applications a year in Toronto for non-payment of rent.
The City of Toronto Staff report on MURA says this:
“More than ever, vulnerable and marginalized populations, including some of the city's lowest wage earners, are struggling to find and maintain adequate, affordable homes. While building new affordable housing must be a priority for all orders of government, protecting the existing supply of housing is equally as important. Besides being less costly than building new, maintaining the existing supply of rental homes is critical to meeting the urgent housing needs of the majority of Toronto renters over the next decade.
The MURA Program recommended in this report presents a non-market public and community-based rental acquisitions strategy to preserve the existing supply of affordable rental housing in the city. It will support the growth of the affordable housing stock by converting private affordable market housing into permanent and protected affordable rental housing. The Program will also help prevent homelessness and increase housing stability for vulnerable and marginalized residents, including Indigenous Peoples, Black and other racialized residents and those from other equity-deserving groups.” [1]
What is MURA?
MURA is the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition Program (MURA).
The City of Toronto MURA Program provides dedicated funding to non-profit and Indigenous housing organizations, including community land trusts, to facilitate the purchase and conversion of at-risk private market rental housing to permanently affordable rental homes. It allows the City to purchase properties to be operated by the non-profit and Indigenous housing sector. MURA also helps to improve the condition of affordable housing acquired. But right now MURA is underfunded.
Prevents Renovictions
Toronto’s housing market is competitive and properties move quickly. MURA allows non-profit organizations in partnership with the City to move fast to purchase affordable housing before it is sold off for redevelopment.
Improve Housing Conditions
Many privately-owned buildings that provide affordable rents across the city are in desperate need of repair. The MURA program can be leveraged to acquire these properties, take them off the market, transition ownership to non-profit and Indigenous housing organizations and the City, alongside renovation funding to significantly improve housing conditions for existing and future tenants.
The MURA Program:
Secures homes as affordable for at least 99 years
Allocates 20% of its funding to Indigenous housing organizations
Prevents people from becoming unhoused
Removes properties from the speculative rental market and creates permanently affordable rental homes through non-profit, Indigenous and public ownership
Acquires properties before renovictions happen
Can be used to proactively acquire affordable housing buildings in need of repair
Needs your help to get more funding and secure more affordable housing
Do you want to know a lot more about MURA? You can read the City’s report on the program here: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ph/bgrd/backgroundfile-172093.pdf
And you can find a recent City Council decision on the MURA Program here: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.PH28.3
75 Units of Affordable Housing Saved in Parkdale and Kensington Market
Part of the MURA Program's origin story is the successful saving of 75 units of affordable housing in Parkdale and Kensington Market. Since 2018, local Councillors, the City, community land trusts, cooperative housing providers, and others have come together to save and make permanent affordable housing for people with low-and-moderate income in our city. They were able to act fast to save housing. With a greater investment in MURA today we can do this for thousands of units across Toronto.
MURA needs a greater investment faster
Right now the City Budget has only $10 million invested in the MURA Program for 2022. Sadly, in Toronto’s real estate market that isn’t much.
The Mayor and Councillors vote on the City Budget February 17. Tell them you support investing more in affordable housing to stop renovictions and secure permanent affordable housing.
Funding to invest in acquiring affordable housing and stopping evictions could come from a number of sources in the City Budget - from capital to operating. One place is the Toronto Police Budget. The Toronto Police are getting a $25 million increase to their $1.1 billion budget.
Toronto City Council can vote to redirect millions from the Toronto Police and put it towards keeping people housed. This would have a huge impact on people’s lives and future opportunities. It’s a better use of our tax dollars.
Sources:
City Council Item PH28.3 - New Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition (MURA) Program to Protect Existing Affordable Rental Homes: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.PH28.3
Why Canada needs a non-market rental acquisition strategy: http://www.focus-consult.com/why-canada-needs-a-non-market-rental-acquisition-strategy/
Letter from Victor Willis, Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre to City Council: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ph/comm/communicationfile-138253.pdf
Submission to City Council from Melissa Goldstein, affordable housing and homelessness advocate: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ph/comm/communicationfile-138317.pdf
Letter to City Council from Dominique Russell and Kevin Barrett, Co-Chairs, Kensington Market Community Land Trust: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ph/comm/communicationfile-138347.pdf