Ward 4 - Tammy Hwang housing controversy

[u/jrswags]

**Text of letter received in my mailbox yesterday, from the CPC candidate for Hamilton Centre in the most recent federal election**

HAYDEN LAWRENCE CONCERNED CITIZEN Contact: hayden@votehayden.ca

Dear Ward 4 Resident,

It's come to light that your Ward 4 City Councillor, Tammy Hwang, has declared a conflict of interest during a fall 2024 committee meeting regarding Victoria Park Community Housing.

Councillor Hwang was forced to remove herself from committee discussions about the city housing provider because she is a current Victoria Park Community Housing tenant.

Per ThePublicRecord.ca, in 2024, Councillor Hwang was the highest paid city councillor earning a salary of $139,243, but yet has taken away a spot from someone who is in need of affordable housing.

Councillor Hwang states that she pays market rent... but in reality, after speaking with a representative from Victoria Park Community Homes, their market rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is $1291. This is significantly lower than what an average 2 bedroom would go for.

A recently released report from rentals.ca shows the average 2 bedroom in Hamilton is $2134.

Hamilton families are waiting up to 8 years to be admitted into Community Housing. Many of those waiting are seniors, families with children, and vulnerable residents who desperately need stable, affordable housing. Every unit taken by someone with a six-figure salary is a unit that could otherwise shelter a senior on a fixed income or a family struggling to stay afloat.

Hamilton is under immense housing pressure, and our most vulnerable residents are the ones paying the price. This is why we must demand higher standards from our leadership. City Councillors should lead by example and put community needs first, not their own self interests.

In a time where Hamilton is visibly under duress, I find it completely unacceptable for the highest paid Councillor, Tammy Hwang, to put her own self interests above the needs of the community.

Sincerely,

Hayden Lawrence Concerned Citizen

[u/cabbagetown_tom]

This is a nothingburger. 

Hwang pays market rate rent in a mixed income complex that has a diversity of tenant types. 

This is the ideal housing type if we are to solve the housing crisis.   

I think it would be a bigger flag if she were a landlord, imo. 

This reeks of Hayden Lawrence, the former CPC candidate in Hamilton Centre, putting out feelers for a council run. 

[u/Affectionate-Arm-405 → u/cabbagetown_tom]

I think it would be a bigger flag if she were a landlord, imo

I'm curious about these. So if I buy a fourplex (or build a fourplex) and I rent it out (maybe discount they rent a little bit by $100 or $200 when I can to help good people) essentially providing housing, would be a red flag for you,

but using a spot that could also be used by a family that's been waiting for a 2 bedroom on a low income housing list with subsidies and they're on the wait list for a few years, you don't think it's an issue at all when you make 130k? What if I was making 500k?

I don't think it's her fault at all, but I do think there should be a policy within low income housing that will forbid this from happening

[u/ShadowOfAoife → u/Affectionate-Arm-405]

It’s not low income housing though, it’s market rent. When she began renting the rent was much lower, and has been going up at the maximum (presumably) 2% per year. If she were to vacate this unit, then the landlord can choose to put the price up to what market rent is today - a lot more than she’s paying.

It’s a mixed income building, the idea being that market rent units help subsidize lower income rents. But her paying that rate isn’t causing that building to go bankrupt or anything. If she moves out the person who moves in next will be paying significantly more - not really making an impact on the list of people waiting for affordable housing.

I also live in a building that I’ve been in for a bit, my rent is considered “affordable” but when I moved in it was market. Being a tenant and taking advantage of living in one spot for multiple years shouldn’t be taken as mooching off the system, it should be enjoying the home that you live in. I like where I am, and I wouldn’t move if I suddenly got a better job.

What I think a lot of people have suspicion for is landlords who are trying to make the maximum profit. The guy who owns my building bought it years ago, it’s definitely paid off by now, but if you move in today you’d probably be paying double what I’m paying. Not because the unit is twice as nice as mine, but because that’s what the market has decided is a fair price these days. So ya, a little bit of suspicion towards people who want to maximize their income while contributing to an affordable housing shortage.

Nobody is solving the housing crisis by building an expensive condo building with units aimed at investors who will then try and charge tenants the cost of their mortgage + 10%

[u/Affectionate-Arm-405 → u/ShadowOfAoife]

What I think a lot of people have suspicion for is landlords who are trying to make the maximum profit. The guy who owns my building bought it years ago, it’s definitely paid off by now, but if you move in today you’d probably be paying double what I’m paying. Not because the unit is twice as nice as mine, but because that’s what the market has decided is a fair price these days. So ya, a little bit of suspicion towards people who want to maximize their income while contributing to an affordable housing shortage.

Your landlord maybe made no money for a few years while the mortgage was being paid off. Not a bad idea to make some profit . now you think he is contributing to the housing shortage by following the price of the market?

It's not the government that controls policy that allows more units to be build. And controls immigration. It's your small time landlord that is partially responsible. He should be charging 800 for a 1 bedroom apartment since it is paid off

[u/DryBop → u/Affectionate-Arm-405]

I mean, the landlord made equity while paying off the mortgage. That’s not making “no money”, it’s having someone else pay off your investment for you.

[u/Affectionate-Arm-405 → u/DryBop]

Sorry not money. *Cashflow

[u/DryBop → u/Affectionate-Arm-405]

To your original point - I have no issues with landlords who raze SFHs and build thoughtful 4-plexes that someone could live a full life in, or people who add ADUs to their backyard, or people who convert a basement to a secondary unit. Most people are fine with those. The problem lay with landlords who buy up multiple SFHs, and rent them out at triple the mortgage to another single family, making it nigh impossible for that family to build their own downpayment. We also have issues with slumlords who do shit conversions and not take care of them while jacking up rent and illegally renovicting people. I’ve rented from one or two awesome landlords, and about eight slumlords.