City Guideline 2012-7: Market rent households applying for RGI assistance within TCHC

Applicability to Social Housing Programs

The policies and procedures in this City Guideline are to be implemented under the following programs.

Please note: If your program is not checked, this City Guideline does not apply to your project.

Background

The Housing Services Act, Regulation 367, s. 48 states:

“A service manager’s system for selecting households must include rules that provide for the following:

1. The housing provider may, with the approval of the service manager, select a household that already occupies a unit in a designated housing project as a household to receive rent-geared-to-income assistance.
2. A selection under paragraph 1 shall be made, in accordance with the service manager’s determination of priority under section 48 of the Act, from among the households that are on the centralized waiting list required under section 46 and that already occupy units in the housing project.”

This means that the City of Toronto must have rules for providing RGI assistance to market rent households in social housing. Market rent households applying for RGI assistance must continue to apply to the centralized waiting list.

This new rule does not affect the City’s local access priorities. Under the local access priorities, a market rent household’s application for RGI assistance is backdated to the date they originally applied to live with their current housing provider or, if there was no waiting list of market rent applicants and the date they applied is not known, the date they first signed a lease.

Action Required

1. TCHC may allocate RGI assistance to a resident market rent household who is not the highest ranked household on the subsidiary waiting list for the housing project in which they live if:
   1. The household is requesting RGI assistance in the unit in which they currently live; and
   2. the household has lived in TCHC for 5 or more consecutive years; and
   3. the household has applied to the centralized waiting list and has been notified that they are eligible; and
   4. the household qualifies, under the local occupancy standards, for the unit size they currently occupy; and
   5. the household is in good standing with TCHC (no arrears and/or damage)
      (Exception: the household is eligible if they have a repayment agreement in good standing).
2. TCHC may assign RGI subsidy to a market rent household under this policy only within the housing project in which the household lives;
3. TCHC must allocate every second RGI subsidy, at a minimum, to the highest ranked household on the subsidiary waiting list for the housing project;
4. TCHC must submit a quarterly report to the Social Housing Unit that details the allocation of RGI assistance to market rent households. The format of the report will be developed by the Social Housing Unit.

Helpful Hints

• If the highest ranked household on a building’s subsidiary list (including all applicants) is a market rent household, TCHC may offer RGI assistance to the household.
• Overhoused market rent households must move to the right size of unit in order to be eligible to apply for RGI subsidy.

Questions

If you have any questions, please contact your Housing Consultant or the HSS:

Housing Stability Services
Shelter, Support & Housing Administration
City of Toronto
365 Bloor Street East, 15th floor
Toronto, ON M4W 3L4
Telephone: 416-392-4126
Email: HSS@toronto.ca
Website: www.toronto.ca/socialhousing