IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR PEOPLE RECEIVING OR APPLYING FOR SOCIAL HOUSING (SUBSIDY)
*THIS COULD AFFECT YOUR RENT AND ELIGIBILITY*
1. Income tax returns will be requested at tenant’s annual review starting July 2020
- Rent will now be calculated once per year and will be based on a tenant’s annual net income as reported on their income tax return
- A tenant will need to provide their income tax assessments to their landlords (housing providers)
- A tenant can lose their rent-geared-to-income subsidy for not filing their income tax and/or not providing their landlord with a copy at their annual review
- If a tenant’s income changes by more than 20%, there will be the ability to review the subsidy one other time in the year
*It will be vital that tenants file their income tax returns*
2. Only one offer for a rent-geared-to-income rental unit as of January 1, 2020
- Tenants on the waiting list will only receive 1 valid offer for a unit from their preferences
- If the potential tenant declines the offer, they will no longer qualify for rent-geared-to-income
- There are similar rules to the above for those who are “over housed” (when fewer people are living in the unit than the minimum number required for that size of unit)
- The Social Housing Registry and housing providers will have some discretion over whether the unit offered was considered a “valid” offer depending on the circumstances
3. Serious criminal offence – as of September 23, 2019
- Housing providers can decide not to offer a prospective tenant a unit if that prospective tenant has been evicted at the Landlord and Tenant Board for a “serious criminal offence” at a public or non-profit housing project within the past five years
- The Landlord must reasonably believe that the potential tenant would be a risk to the safety of the other tenants
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES OF OTTAWA