The city mailed a letter out to Kris Kringle, 25 Christmas Lane, North Pole, asking whether he was still interested in subsidized housing. The letter was returned to sender.This is among the findings of the city’s auditor general in a new report that concludes a large chunk of the city’s centralized waiting list for rent geared to income is incomplete or in question. The Kringle record — what staff told the auditor general was for test purposes — was among them.That data problem, Toronto’s auditor general Beverly Romeo-Beehler concluded, means the city doesn’t have an accurate picture of who is actually waiting. At the same time, in the midst of a citywide housing crisis, some 1,400 units that could be rented remain vacant.Subsidized housing includes Toronto Community Housing Units, co-operative housing and rent-geared-to-income units offering through other housing providers. Empty apartments are not without costs. Even if a unit is empty, housing providers still receive rent-geared-to-income funding through the city — resulting in an estimated $7 million loss in just 2018, according to the report. “The city typically pays housing providers for (rent-geared-to-income) units regardless of whether they are occupied or not,” the report said. “Throughout the year, on average, 1,400 social housing units remain vacant across the entire social housing system. Given the demand for housing, this funding could have been better used to help more households in need of financial assistance for housing.”In total there are more than 106,000 households on the wait-list, with a wait of two to 14 years depending on what type of unit is being sought and the priority needs of the applicant, the audit said.According to the audit, almost 60,000 households representing 110,000 people are confirmed to be waiting for housing, with contact made with them by the city within the last 18 months (the city is legally obligated ...
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