Sask. needs 'to do more, faster' to address empty, damaged social housing units in Regina: auditor
CBC
The provincial auditor has sharply critiqued how Saskatchewan is handling its stock of provincially owned social housing units in the province's capital.
In May, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation owned approximately 3,000 units in Regina, of which 534 were vacant — a vacancy rate of 17.8 per cent, according to a report released by auditor Tara Clemett on Tuesday. Of the vacant units, 364 were out-of-service and needing repair.
At that same time, 404 households were waiting for social housing units, Clemett's report said.
"They definitely probably need to do more, faster," she said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The auditor's findings were published as part of her office's second volume of 2024 audits being filed with the provincial legislature Tuesday afternoon.
The full report examined the Ministry of Social Services' use of hotels, the timeliness of 911 call dispatching for fire or emergencies outside of Saskatoon and Regina, and foreign ownership of farmland.
Among Clemett's findings on social housing were that over the past several years, Regina has had not only the province's largest number of vacant units, but also the highest vacancy rate as a percentage of housing corporation-owned units.
Clemett found the housing corporation does not regularly assess how long applicants to its social housing program wait to get placed in a social housing unit.
The corporation also doesn't assess what type of units are requested, and doesn't sufficiently track and analyze its vacant units or trends in demand to determine where it should focus repairs, her report said.
That may explain why the corporation's housing portfolio in Regina is classified as "poor" quality, according to the audit.
The mixture of units (for example, family or single units, or units for seniors) offered by the corporation has remained "relatively unchanged" since 2016 and no longer aligns with the current demand, Clemett said.
As an example, her report notes the housing corporation had more than 300 approved applicants for family/single units in Regina in May 2024, but only 56 units available.
Holding on to vacant units in Regina is also costly for the provincial government, she said.
"The government is paying $1.2 million to have nobody in those units overall," said Clemett.
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