In Northumberland's housing, history is destiny

Photo taken by Jakub Żerdzicki Provided through Unsplash

By Cecilia Nasmith

In Northumberland County's housing situation, history has become destiny.

Associate Director of Housing and Homelessness Rebecca Snelgrove said at Wednesday's meeting of county council's Social Services Committee that underfunding decisions taken half a century ago continue to be felt.

The remarks arose during Homelessness Services Manager Bill Smith's annual Housing and Homelessness report, when

Committee member Olena Hankivsky asked if there were any way to tell how Northumberland County stacks up against similar municipalities in terms of such metrics as getting people off the affordable-housing waiting list.

This is hard to measure, Snelgrove said. Comparable size is less important than some historical factors. The fact is, 30 to 50 years ago, the county was underserved in terms of Federal and provincial support for rent-geared-to-income units. And the county saw much lower numbers of purpose-built rental properties built as well.

“What that means – there is an increase of pressure on the system to respond to that,” she said.

“We are also, compared to other communities our size, in closer proximity to the GTA, so we also have a higher demand for community housing and affordable housing – in a community that wasn't invested in 50 years ago to do that.”

The county is working hard to address the problems arising out of what she termed a 50-year-old disparity, currently with more than 100 units in some form of development (from design to construction). For example, the redevelopment in Cobourg's Elgin Park project was completed last year, fitting the property out to accommodate 40 households instead of 18. They are always on the lookout to acquire small buildings to refit for use as transitional housing, and to bring developers on board to create affordable housing.

“But generally, across the province, wait lists are growing at the same level we are experiencing,” Snelgrove said.

“We do know anecdotally that folks looking for affordable housing often find affordable housing elsewhere. We are more expensive than Durham Region, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Hastings County.”

Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland (not a committee member, but sitting in) said that he is a renter himself, and can confirm prices are steep in his town. Rent for a one-bedroom condo can run $2,500 a month, he said, and it would cost twice that to rent a four-bedroom house.

“People with two full-time jobs are struggling to make rent. People making $80-, $90-, $100,000 can't find a rental in Cobourg,” Cleveland said.

Hankivsky said she is hearing of an increase in seniors who've spent their entire lives in Northumberland County, “and finding now, at end of life, the inability to afford to stay in the community in which they have lived their entire lives.”

“It's definitely a huge issue,” Snelgrove agreed.

“We see the numbers of seniors represented in our homeless population increasing. We see the need for all types of supports in housing that aren't there, and that also includes long-term-care-type supports as well. There are lots of different things that we are seeing in terms of gaps across the system.”

Smith's report set out six strategies – increase affordable-housing options, implement co-ordinated access for housing and support services, support housing stability, increase supportive housing and supports, build a diverse housing supply and optimize existing housing stock.

He also offered some numbers. For example, in 2025, 1,305 households were reported to be on the waitlist. Sixty of them were housed off the list and 14 received the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to help with rental costs. In 2024, the list had 1,348 households, with 58 of them housed and 16 receiving the benefit.

In the end, Smith said, “We need a lot more supportive housing – community support actually helps maintain existing housing, and support from landlords when they take somebody in that may be higher-risk.

“We need more (housing) stock, we need more supports for those who are struggling to maintain housing, and we need more prevention work so more people are not at risk of losing their current housing and finding themselves in a new market at a higher cost,” Smith summed up.