Item - 2022.PH31.5

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Received the report (February 1, 2022) from the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning for information.

In December 2019, City Council adopted the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan ("HousingTO Plan") which includes a number of actions to address the housing needs of residents across the full housing continuum. A key target in the HousingTO Plan is the approval of 40,000 new affordable rental homes, including 18,000 supportive housing units by 2030.

Recognizing the need to enhance and further streamline the administration of affordable housing as the supply of new homes increases, the HousingTO Plan also includes recommendations to design and implement a centralized access system to improve allocation of the new affordable rental units.

As a first step to implementing the HousingTO Plan recommendations, in April 2021 through Item PH22.10, staff recommended an implementation plan for the development of a new centralized access system for affordable housing. At this meeting, Planning and Housing Committee requested staff to complete the following activities and report back to the Committee:

· Engage stakeholders, including the public, private and non-profit housing providers, community organizations and the development industry;

· Develop a concept design of the new access model, including an allocation methodology and resources required to build the new system;

· Develop an approach to consolidate and streamline the future administration of new affordable housing contracts and agreements; and

· Ensure the system design enables the collection and monitoring of affordable housing performance metrics, as they relate to the targets set in the HousingTO Plan.

This report responds to the Committee's requests and provides details on actions taken to-date by City staff, including findings from the consultations held in 2021, as well as a concept design for the new access system.

A final report will be provided to the Committee in the second quarter of 2022. This future report will outline implementation details related to the proposed new access system including the recommended procurement approach, resource requirements, and the overall financial impact to the City. Subject to Council approval, the new affordable housing access system is anticipated to be launched in 2023.