Latest news with #LMCH
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Most of the public housing in ‘very poor' condition isn't in London— it's in Middlesex County
With three highest-demand LMCH locations in Middlesex County, a detailed report shows which units are in the worst repair, reports CTV London's Daryl Newcombe.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
No Quick Fix: $110M gap to bring LMCH public housing up to ‘good' condition
A recently completed Asset Management Plan (AMP) has determined that bringing public housing operated by London Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH) up to a 'good' condition would require up to $110 million over the next decade. A condition assessment of 31 residential properties generated an overall grade of 'poor', with none evaluated as being in 'good' or 'very good' condition. According to the report, seven were in 'fair' condition, 18 in 'poor' condition, and six in 'very poor' condition. 'These assets are a different type of asset because there's a human factor here-- people live in these units,' Councillor Sam Trosow told colleagues on the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee. Councillor Hadleigh McAlister, who also sits on the LMCH Board, explained, 'Many of these properties were built in the 1960s and 1970s. So, all of these properties are falling into the same trap, which is aging infrastructure.' Escaping that financial trap will be costly. The AMP determined it will cost $6.4 million to simply maintain the overall 'poor' condition and not slip into 'very poor' over the next 10 years. Making improvements to achieve an overall 'fair' condition would boost the 10-year cost to $34.6 million. An estimated $110.3 million would need to be spent over the next decade to improve to an overall 'good' condition. 'These are discussions that have to happen through the multi-year budget, because they have ramifications in terms of the financial impacts,' said McAlister. Mayor Josh Morgan suggested there is no quick fix. 'There is not going to be a plan that is going to bring that gap to zero in a short period of time,' Morgan told colleagues on SPPC. 'It would require significant investment from other levels of government, and those other levels of government know that this is a challenge many municipalities have.' The mayor cited financial investments made in the 2020-2023 budget as an indication that there's a commitment to address the problem. 'Work through 2025 will have over $60 million in capital repair investments into our community—so that work has begun,' said Paul Chisholm, CEO of LMCH after the meeting. 'The data tells us there's more work (and) that we need to up the level of maintenance and capital work we do.' City staff will provide LMCH with support, assisting LMCH in developing action plans to implement recommendations in the short, medium, and long-term. The committee voted to receive the report.
CBC
5 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Almost 70% of London's public housing is in disrepair, and the price tag to fix it is $110M
Social Sharing Update: London councillors voted 12-to-1 in favour of accepting the plan that recommends $110 million in spending to bring the average LMCH property status to "good". Now that it's made it through the committee stage, the report will go to council for final approval on June 3. London's stock of affordable public housing is largely in disrepair, according to a report penned by city bureaucrats that calls on councillors to spend millions to solve the problem. The staff assessment found that 63 per cent of the housing in London and Middlesex Community Housing's (LMCH) inventory is in "poor" condition, and five per cent is in "very poor" condition. The report coming to a committee meeting Tuesday says it will cost $110 million over 10 years for the average across all public housing to be brought up to a "good" condition. "I have lots of complaints," said Michaela Garlick, a public housing resident who has lived in LMCH's Limberlost community for four and a half years, and says the report's findings are no surprise. Garlick is one of several residents at Limberlost who told CBC news they have become accustomed to waiting more than a year to have basic maintenance requests filled. She's personally been waiting months to have a peeling and unusable bathtub fixed, and waited over a year to have a broken staircase fixed. "[It's] absolutely horrible. It's not fair to us and it's not fair to my kids, to live in poor conditions," Garlick said. Still, she said, emergency requests like leaks are often promptly solved. LMCH says it provides 3,258 housing units for more than 5,000 people across 32 properties. At its Southdale housing complex, where Misty Murphy has lived for 20 years, similar repair concerns exist. "When I moved [into a new unit in the complex], we had to bang down screws that were sticking up out of the floor. My outside water tap still doesn't work [three years later]," Murphy said. "It's not an emergency issue, so I guess it's just kind of put on the backburner." The extent of the repair issues at LMCH, and how they're triaged, is something LMCH is not proud of, but it's something that's currently necessary, said Paul Chisholm, the organization's CEO. "It's not acceptable," Chisholm said. "Unfortunately, it's not a surprise to us. We do know we have an asset that's over 50 years old, and many of the the elements of the buildings and sites we operate have a life expectancy of less than 50 years." Chisholm said LMCH continues to maintain its most critical infrastructure, and is making progress in catching up, especially since it no longer has the "very limited" capital budget it had prior to 2020. "We want to get to a fair and then a good state of repair across our portfolio," Chisholm said. According to Chisholm, a portion of the maintenance needs would require significant work, like replacing 50-year old plumbing, and completely rewiring aging electrical infrastructure. He said LMCH is on track to repair what it can with its current level of funding, but more money is needed to do it in a more reasonable timeframe. He suggests more money could come from other levels of government. Ward 6 Councillor Sam Trosow agrees. "They need more money, and ultimately, I think the province is going to have to step in here because in fairness, there's only so much the municipality can do," Trosow said. "We can't break the municipal budget over there." Trosow said he doesn't believe LMCH has budgeted well with the money it has, and that will play a role in his vote on the proposed course of action. "I'm not seeing any improvement. I am constantly getting complaints from tenants that live in their buildings," he said. Trosow and other councillors will consider the report during Tuesday's meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.
CBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Almost 70% of London's public housing is in disrepair, and the price tag to fix it is $100M
Social Sharing London's stock of affordable public housing is largely in disrepair, according to a report penned by city bureaucrats that calls on councillors to spend millions to solve the problem. The staff assessment found that 63 per cent of the housing in London and Middlesex Community Housing's (LMCH) inventory is in "poor" condition, and five per cent is in "very poor" condition. The report coming to a committee meeting Tuesday says it will cost $110 million over 10 years for all public housing to be brought up to a "good" condition. "I have lots of complaints," said Michaela Garlick, a public housing resident who has lived in LMCH's Limberlost community for four and a half years, and says the report's findings are no surprise. Garlick is one of several residents at Limberlost who told CBC news they have become accustomed to waiting more than a year to have basic maintenance requests filled. She's personally been waiting months to have a peeling and unusable bathtub fixed, and waited over a year to have a broken staircase fixed. "[It's] absolutely horrible. It's not fair to us and it's not fair to my kids, to live in poor conditions," Garlick said. Still, she said, emergency requests like leaks are often promptly solved. LMCH says it provides 3,258 housing units for more than 5,000 people across 32 properties. At its Southdale housing complex, where Misty Murphy has lived for 20 years, similar repair concerns exist. "When I moved [into a new unit in the complex], we had to bang down screws that were sticking up out of the floor. My outside water tap still doesn't work [three years later]," Murphy said. "It's not an emergency issue, so I guess it's just kind of put on the backburner." The extent of the repair issues at LMCH, and how they're triaged, is something LMCH is not proud of, but it's something that's currently necessary, said Paul Chisholm, the organization's CEO. "It's not acceptable," Chisholm said. "Unfortunately, it's not a surprise to us. We do know we have an asset that's over 50 years old, and many of the the elements of the buildings and sites we operate have a life expectancy of less than 50 years." Chisholm said LMCH continues to maintain its most critical infrastructure, and is making progress in catching up, especially since it no longer has the "very limited" capital budget it had prior to 2020. "We want to get to a fair and then a good state of repair across our portfolio," Chisholm said. According to Chisholm, a portion of the maintenance needs would require significant work, like replacing 50-year old plumbing, and completely rewiring aging electrical infrastructure. He said LMCH is on track to repair what it can with its current level of funding, but more money is needed to do it in a more reasonable timeframe. He suggests more money could come from other levels of government. Ward 6 Councillor Sam Trosow agrees. "They need more money, and ultimately, I think the province is going to have to step in here because in fairness, there's only so much the municipality can do," Trosow said. "We can't break the municipal budget over there." Trosow said he doesn't believe LMCH has budgeted well with the money it has, and that will play a role in his vote on the proposed course of action. "I'm not seeing any improvement. I am constantly getting complaints from tenants that live in their buildings," he said.
CBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CBC
London's public housing is in disrepair, and the price tag to fix it is over $100M
Social Sharing London's stock of affordable public housing is largely in disrepair, according to a report penned by city bureaucrats that asks councillors to sign off on a plan to spend big to solve the problem. That dire assessment pegs 63 per cent of the housing in London and Middlesex Community Housing's (LMCH) inventory as being in "poor" condition, and five per cent of that stock at "very poor" condition. "I have lots of complaints," said Michaela Garlick, a public housing resident who has lived in LMCH's Limberlost community for four and a half years, and says the report's findings are no surprise. Garlick is one of several residents at Limberlost that told CBC news they have become accustomed to waiting over a year to have basic maintenance requests filled. She's personally been waiting months to have a peeling and unusable bathtub fixed, and waited over a year to have a broken staircase fixed. "[It's] absolutely horrible. It's not fair to us and it's not fair to my kids, to live in poor conditions," Garlick said. Still, she said, emergency requests like leaks are often promptly solved. LMCH, by its own count, provides 3,258 housing units for more than 5,000 people across 32 properties. At its Southdale housing complex, where Misty Murphy has lived for 20 years, similar concerns exist. "When I moved [into a new unit in the complex], we had to bang down screws that were sticking up out of the floor. My outside water tap still doesn't work [three years later]," Murphy said. "It's not an emergency issue, so I guess it's just kind of put on the backburner." The need to triage repairs to such an extent isn't something that LMCH is proud of, but it's something that's currently necessary, said Paul Chisholm, LMCH's CEO. "It's not acceptable," Chisholm said of the level of disrepair at LMCH facilities. "Unfortunately, it's not a surprise to us. We do know we have an asset that's over 50 years old, and many of the the elements of the buildings and sites we operate have a life expectancy of less than 50 years." Chisholm said LMCH continues to maintain its most critical infrastructure, and is making progress in catching up, especially since it no longer has the "very limited" capital budget it had prior to 2020. "We want to get to a fair and then a good state of repair across our portfolio," Chisholm said. Achieving that elusive "good" condition is easier — and cheaper — said than done, though. Only six per cent of LMCH's units fall into that category, and the report landing in a council committee meeting Tuesday says it would cost $110.03 million over 10 years to bring that number up to 100 per cent. According to Chisholm, a portion of the maintenance needs would require significant work, like replacing 50 year old plumbing, and completely rewiring aging electrical infrastructure. He said while LMCH is on track to make progress in making repairs at its current level of funding, more money is needed to reach the goal in a reasonable timeframe, and suggested that could some from other levels of government. Ward 6 Councillor Sam Trosow is in agreement. "They need more money, and ultimately, I think the province is going to have to step in here because in fairness, there's only so much the municipality can do," Trosow said. "We can't break the municipal budget over there." Despite the agreement, Trosow said he doesn't believe LMCH has handled funds they've received to date well, and that will play a role in his vote on the proposed course of action. "I'm not seeing any improvement. I am constantly getting complaints from tenants that live in their buildings," he said. Trosow and other councillors will consider the report during Tuesday's meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee. That report currently says council should approve an updated plan that recommends the $110 million path to bringing the status of LMCH's properties back to good.
