With Moving Day approaching, the city of Montreal plans to renovate vacant units owned by its real-estate agency for people who are unhoused or at risk of becoming so.<\/p>\n
The city announced funding Friday to renovate 45 units belonging to the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019habitation et de d\u00e9veloppement de Montr\u00e9al (SHDM) in hopes of having them ready by September.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The units will be reserved for people identified by organizations that serve the city\u2019s unhoused population.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know 45 units doesn\u2019t sound like a lot, but it is a lot,\u201d Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said during a news conference. \u201cEvery unit we can put on the market is one person in the family or senior that can have a home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SHDM has a housing stock of more than 5,200 units spread out across 395 buildings in the city. It operates with a vacancy rate of about 2.3 per cent, 80 per cent of which require renovations before being livable. <\/p>\n
The 45 units selected were determined to be the easiest to renovate. They are part of 700 units the agency reserves for vulnerable clientele, which are rented for an average of $450 a month.<\/p>\n
The city is putting $540,000 toward the renovations.\u00a0The executive committee member responsible for housing, Outremont borough mayor Caroline Braun, said that at the cost\u200a \u2014 \u200aroughly $12,000 per unit \u200a\u2014\u200a it was an obvious decision to make.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really not a lot of money for the result,\u201d Braun said, noting how quickly the city intends to turn the units around. \u201cThese are the kinds of solutions we need to find in order to address the crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martinez Ferrada said she\u2019s concerned about the number of people who may find themselves without a home come July 1<\/a>, but also noted the city understands people are now losing their homes year-round.<\/p>\n As of Friday, there were 44 families being housed with the help of the city\u2019s Office municipal d\u2019habitation de Montr\u00e9al after losing their apartments, an increase of 11 families since June 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n Between January and late May, the city agency received 510 requests from households in need of help. \u00a0<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s announcement\u00a0came only a day after a\u00a036-year-old person was found dead inside a tent at the\u00a0foot of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Martinez Ferrada said she couldn\u2019t comment on the specifics of the case, but said her thoughts are with the front-line groups that work with unhoused people on a daily basis.<\/p>\n