Sask. auditor says high social housing vacancy rates in Regina need to be addressed

Saskatchewan’s auditor says Regina had nearly 18 per cent of all social housing vacancies in the province at one point in 2024.

According to Auditor Tara Clemett’s report released on Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation had 534 vacant social housing units across the province, but Regina in particular accounted for 17.8 per cent of them in May of 2024.

Clemett says that indicates improved plans are needed for social housing in Regina to address high rates.

“Over the past several years, Regina not only had the most vacancies, but also the highest vacancy rate in corporation-owned units,” Clemett said in her report.

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According to Clemett, in 2020, Regina’s vacancy rates among corporation-owned units was 18.1 per cent. That followed increases to 23.2 per cent and 24.9 per cent the next two years before dropping to 21.8 per cent and 16.2 per cent in 2023 and 2024.

“Through its Social Housing Program, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation aims to provide safe, adequate rental housing and subsidize rents based on financial need. The Corporation owned about 3,000 social housing units in Regina as of June 2024, and the Regina Housing Authority managed these units,” the report outlined.

In Tuesday’s report, Clemett made eight recommendations in total.

“The Saskatchewan Housing Corporation does not regularly assess how long Social Housing Program applicants wait or why, or types of units requested (e.g., number of bedrooms needed). It also does not sufficiently track and analyze its vacant units (e.g., types and duration of units under repair) or trends in demand to determine where to focus repairs,” the report outlined.

“Doing so might help the corporation identify changes needed to its housing portfolio and inform plans to get chronically vacant units back into service.”

Other recommendations made my Clemett included:

• Complete its forecast of long-term social housing needs in Regina to sufficiently identify gaps
• Identify and respond to possibly over-housed social housing tenants in Regina (i.e., tenants living in units too large for their needs)
• Enhance its operational reviews of the Regina Housing Authority
• Report progress on improving building conditions of social housing units in Regina

The full report can be found here.