This position has now been filled. We thank all applicants. (March 7th, 2022)
Barriers to Affordability: The Housing Crisis in Peterborough
This is a short research project contract offering $650, plus expenses, on completion of the report.
Goal
To produce a case study report on the housing crisis in Peterborough that links to the Green Party of Ontario’s (GPO) election platform.
Purpose
The Peterborough-Kawaratha chapter of the GPO wants to highlight the party’s solutions to the local housing unaffordability crisis. This will be done by identifying and describing examples in Peterborough of barriers to housing affordability and matching them up with GPO Policy. We want to be able to rely on the report to compose scripts for videos, public field trips and for our chosen candidate to use during the campaign, highlighting the benefits of the GPO Housing Policy.
Defining Affordability
The GPO defines housing affordability as costing no more than 30% of household income.
Background: The Housing Affordability Crisis
In Peterborough house prices rose 33% in 2021, during a time when many people are suffering wage uncertainty. Rental costs have also risen above the rate of wage growth year on year, forcing many people to tighten belts.
The GPO Housing Policy (available at gpo.ca/housing) describes the housing affordability crisis this way:
“Housing affordability is a real challenge to many people across the province. Housing costs are rising faster than people’s incomes. More and more households are spending more than 30% of their income to meet their basic housing needs.”
“We urgently need to build more well-designed, affordable, purpose built rental housing that suits the needs of the tenants. For example, housing that is accessible, with access to outdoor space and enough room for families with kids. We also need to protect what affordable rental supply we have and make sure tenants who are currently paying afford- able rent aren’t unfairly evicted.” (pg. 21)
How the research project will be managed
Those wishing to apply will be provided with a full brief for the project, including the key GPO housing policies that we wish to link to case studies. The full brief will provide structure to the format of the report.
The GPO Housing Policy identifies barriers to housing affordability. The researcher will identify examples in Peterborough where these barriers can be seen, and provide short case studies of them. Also, local or regional examples of solutions.
The researcher will meet regularly with a member of the Peterborough-Kawartha GPO Constituency Association to discuss progress on the report, seek clarifications and for support.
Skills and Experiences
The researcher is expected to be able to be proactive in gathering and analyzing information. The candidate should have some knowledge and understanding of housing policy, urban planning and/or sustainability.
Required:
-Ability to identify the regulatory context of housing examples, such as the zoning requirements of their location, whether the developer had to apply for zoning variance, whether other regulations came into play.
-Ability to discover factors related to the price of units
-Ability to concisely describe such factors in writing.
-Strong writing skills
– Strong communication skills (for sharing information with Duff in a manner that can be easily understood)
– Strong time management skills (this is important due to the deadlines involved)
Desirable:
– report writing experience
– experience in social justice policy
Given this context, this project is suitable for third year or graduate students, or graduates, of Urban Geography and other disciplines related to sustainable development.
To Apply
Please contact info@ptbogreens.org to request the full brief. Subsequently, please send a cover letter and resumé of relevant education and experience to the same address before noon on February 6. The first 5 qualified applicants will be invited for interviews on February 7 or 8.
Recent Comments