Good afternoon, members of the committee. I am indeed honoured to be here speaking on behalf of our community, and I will, of course, limit my comments to the Saint John perspective.
When it comes to affordable housing, the city of Saint John is in crisis. We estimate that in 2021, home ownership was not achievable by 60% of the households in Saint John, and approximately 40% of our very large rental household community did not have access to affordable housing. We know that affordability issues continue to have a severe impact on the quality of life of our citizens and that the crisis will worsen without intervention. We also believe that there are many more living very close to the line, if you will, and with housing costs on a dramatic upward curve, there is no doubt that our needs for affordable housing will increase significantly in the years to come.
Please allow me to offer a few quick themes.
First, as you develop this program, it is, in our opinion, important that the funding be provided directly to the municipalities without any requirement to pass through the province or to having matching dollars. The need is too great to slow the process down or to leave money on the table because provincial matching dollars or support are not potentially achieved in a timely manner. It is, after all, the municipalities that best understand their local situations and how to solve them.
My next point is on eligibility criteria, which we urge you to make as broad as possible. Every municipality is different and has different needs, so one size does not fit all. Also, as we develop our plans, we are trying to be bold and innovative. Restrictive criteria would limit the creative solutions. Funding should cater to the entire range of possibilities, including the staffing or horsepower for the development thereof.
The program should recognize that smaller cities like Saint John need to take a balanced approach that aligns with innovative urban plans that do not place unnecessary burdens on the private sector to build the much-needed supply and that keep us nimble and quick through the approval processes. At the same time, we need to ensure that the core housing needs of our most marginalized citizens are met by addressing the entire housing continuum and not just affordable housing.
We would also recommend streamlining funding applications. While we recognize the need for oversight, and we do have a small professional planning team who are able to pursue opportunities, approvals must be quick and easy to achieve. I think we would all agree that the hard work should be in the creation of the solutions and not in the completion of funding forms.
In closing, I will leave you with a few more statistics.
Saint John is now experiencing rents that are comparable with those in mid-sized cities, yet the average family income in Saint John is approximately, and only, about $66,000 per year before tax. The story is much more compelling, because it's also a tale of haves and have-nots. Over 30% of our renter households make less than $35,000 a year, and some make much less.
Using a standard definition of affordable housing, which is 30% of total family income, we estimate that our greatest need is for units in the $500 to $800 per month range. I would suggest to you that it does not matter how innovative we may be, developers cannot produce these units for that cost per door. We simply do not enjoy the economy of scale that larger cities may have and use to drive down construction prices. We need significant direct funding assistance and special programs, and the time for them is now.
I am joined here today by our commissioner of growth and community services, Jacqueline Hamilton, and between her, the mayor and me, we would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you.