Residents of this Mississauga mobile home park must leave to make way for affordable housing
Killing affordable housing for a different kind of affordable housing has baffled locals
Residents of the Twin Pines Mobile Home Park in Mississauga’s Summerville district are enraged that they’re being kicked out by city hall to make room for—wait for it—a different form of affordable housing. They now have until the end of April to either accept an offer of $50,000 to vacate the premises within the next year, or receive a subsidy on their next home, with would-be tenants paying 30 per cent of their income on monthly rent and Mississauga covering the rest.
In response, Twin Pines said via its website that the city’s proposed $50,000 wouldn’t cover the cost of purchasing a home in a similar mobile park, which can cost up to $400,000. The group goes on to claim that such funds would also cover less than two years’ rent in Mississauga’s expensive real estate market, which is comparable to that of Toronto.
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“What if there are no private rentals available?" the Twin Pines post reads. “Where will we go? Guess we will be back paying market rent of $2441 a month on a pension of $2100 a month. Somehow that doesn’t seem to work!” The park notes that the majority of its residents are seniors, and some have lived there since childhood, for more than 60 years.
Peel Region says on its website that its Peel Housing Corporation purchased the 25-acre lot all the way back in 1996 and signalled intent to build atop the land in 2016. “The redevelopment of Twin Pines is an important part of our long-term strategy to increase housing supply,” says the statement. “The objective is to create additional affordable housing by maximizing the land holdings at this site for broader community benefit.”
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Peel anticipates more than 1,000 homes to eventually reside on site, replacing the 130 there today. But there is currently no specific plan, and a developer has not yet been hired.
Mississauga was recently found to be the eighth most expensive place to rent in Canada. To address affordability issues, the city recently approved a motion to eliminate development charges for certain units. It also updated its zoning laws to allow townhouses on smaller lots and is providing gentle-density incentives for builders to create garden suites and fourplexes.
