Two-Thirds Have
Concerns About Social Housing
Two-thirds also have no confidence they
could get it if they needed it
Toronto, October 9th – In a random sampling of public
opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 987 Toronto voters, two-thirds (69%) say
they have concerns about social housing in Toronto. A third (31%) say they do
not.
Amongst those that say they have concerns about social housing, a third (36%)
say criminal activity is their biggest concern. One-fifth (21%) say their
biggest concern is the availability of units. One-sixth (15%) say their biggest
concern is the state of repair of current units.
1 in 10 (10%) says their biggest concern is the cost to the city of
their operation or (9%) the waitlist for units. Few (5%) said it was the cost
to repair existing units or something else (3%).
A
quarter have no second biggest concern
A quarter (23%) say they don’t have a second biggest concern about
social housing. One-sixth (16%) say it’s the state of repair of the current
units or (13%) the cost to the city for operation. About 1 in 10 (12%) say it’s
the availability of units, (12%) the waitlist for units, (9%) criminal
activity, or the (9%) cost to repair current units.
Few (6%) say it’s something else.
Almost
two-thirds say they approve of social housing…
6 in 10 (62%) say they approve of social housing. One quarter (27%)
say they disapprove, and 1 in 10 (11%) say they do not know.
…but
only a third would approve if social housing was built in their neighbourhood
One-third (35%) says they would approve if a social development was
built in their neighbourhood, with the same proportion (35%) saying they would
disapprove. A further third (30%) say they would neither approve nor
disapprove.
Most say neither they nor a family member
has lived in social housing
More than 8 in 10 (84%) say
neither they, nor a family member has lived in social housing. About 1 in 10
(8%) say they have lived in social or subsidized housing, fewer than 1 in 10
(6%) say a family member has lived in social or subsidized housing, while a few
(3%) say they have lived in social housing, and so has a family member.
About half say they, or their family
member lives in social housing now
Of those that say either
they, or their family member, has lived in social housing, half (48%) say they
live in social housing now, while half (51%) say they do not. Few (1%) say they
do not know.
A third have lived there for ten years
or more
Amongst those that said
that either they or a member of their family lived in social housing (n=125), a
third (33%) said the unit was occupied for ten years or more. A quarter (23%)
say it’s been more than five years, but fewer than ten.
About one-sixth (14%) say
two to five years, while about one-fifth (18%) say more than a year but less
than two years.
1 in 10 (9%) say it’s been
six months to one year. Few (4%) say it’s been fewer than six months.
4 in 10 say the unit is not well
maintained
Amongst those that said
that either they or a member of their family lived in social housing (n=125),
almost one-third (28%) say the unit is very well maintained. A quarter (23%)
say the unit is somewhat well maintained.
One-fifth (21%) say the
unit is not very well maintained, while a quarter (23%) say the unit is not
well maintained at all.
Few (4%) say they do not
know.
One-quarter says maintenance takes fewer
than two weeks, but 1 in 10 say it takes more than a year
Amongst those that said
that either they or a member of their family lived in social housing (n=125), one-quarter
(26%) say that when maintenance is needed, it takes fewer than two weeks.
One fifth (20%) say it
takes more than two weeks but less than a month.
One-sixth (14%) say it
takes more than a month but fewer than two months.
About 1 in 10 (7%) say it
would take two to three months.
(6%) say it takes more than
three months but fewer than six months.
Few (2%) say it takes more
than six months but less than one year.
1 in 10 (10%) say it takes
more than a year.
About one-sixth (15%) say
they do not know.
One-quarter got access to social housing
in six months to a year
Amongst those that said
that either they or a member of their family lived in social housing (n=125),
one-quarter (28%) says they got access in about six months to a year.
One-sixth (17%) said it
took fewer than six months.
About one sixth (13%) said
it took more than a year but less than two years.
1 in 10 (12%) said it took
two to five years.
One-fifth (18%) said it
took more than five years but fewer than ten years.
1 in 10 (12%) said it took
ten years or more.
Almost two-thirds not confident they
could access social housing if they needed it
Amongst those who have
never used social housing, nor had a family member use it, almost two-thirds
(62%) say they are not confident at all that they could access social housing if
they needed it.
One-sixth (16%) say they
are not very confident, while 1 in 10 (9%) say they are somewhat confident they
could access it.
Few (3%) say they are very confident.
1 in 10 (10%) say they do not know.
Torontonians divided on whether building
or repair should be the priority
A third (35%) says that the
repair of existing units should be the priority for the city when it comes to
social housing, while a similar proportion (32%) said building new units should
be the priority.
One-sixth (15%) said social
housing isn’t a priority, while a similar proportion said they do not know
(18%).
One-third say many more units are needed
A third (35%) say that many
more units of social housing are needed, while one-sixth (16%) say somewhat
more are required.
A quarter (24%) say much
fewer units are needed, while 1 in 10 (10%) say somewhat fewer are.
1 in 10 (12%) say neither
more or fewer are needed, while few (4%) say they don’t know.
Tory and Keesmaat neck and neck on
social housing
When asked which candidate
is most likely to improve the state of social housing in Toronto if elected,
Tory and Keesmaat are running very close, with a third (35%) saying Tory, and a
similar proportion (30%) saying Keesmaat.
1 in 10 (12%) said it would
be another candidate, while a quarter (23%) said that they do not know.
“Many Torontonians
have concerns about social housing, with a third saying that criminal activity
is their primary concern,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum
Research. “What is striking, however, is that from amongst the small group of
social housing users, is that 1 in 10 waited ten years or more to get access
and a similar proportion can wait up to a year for maintenance; and amongst
those that don’t currently use social housing, 6 in 10 have no confidence that
they could get it if they needed it."
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
