How does Neoliberalism effect Affordable Housing?

On the surface, there seems to be a very simple solution to homelessness in Canada: make Affordable Housing more abundant. More affordable housing means less people living on the streets. If you remember from the first post, in early 1980’s Canada, Municipal, Provincial and Federal government funded just more than 20,000 new social housing units annually, and in 1995 it was little over 1000 (State of Homelessness in Canada, 2014). This would have drastic impact on the homeless population – obviously, as housing diminishes, the total number of people living on the streets would surely increase.

As Forrest and Hirayama (2009) say in their article on the effects of Neoliberalism on housing, this issue is directly related to the philosophy of Neoliberalism. In their article they are speaking about housing issues in Japan and the UK, but those issues can easily be translated to any country with a Neoliberal economy.

Since about the time between the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the 1980’s, government played a key role in the planning and construction of affordable housing (Forrest and Hiramaya, 2009). After this period, funding dropped greatly. As highlighted by the Wellesley Institute document called “Precarious Housing” in 2010, the Affordable Housing Initiative will have been cut by a total of $163 million over the span of 25 years (in Canada).

If you want the answer to why the homelessness population is increasing, you’ve found it.

References

Gaetz, Stephen, Tanya Gulliver, and Tim Richter. "The State of Homelessness in Canada 2014." The State of Homelessness in Canada 2014. Homelessness Hub, 2014. Web. 2015.

Hirayama, Yosuke, and Ray Forrest. "The Uneven Impact of Neoliberalism on Housing Opportunities." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 33.4 (2009): 998-1013. Web.

"Precarious Housing in Canada." Wellesley Institute, 2010. Web. 2015.