The MRC Pontiac has released the results of a territory-wide housing survey it conducted a year ago in a statistical report highlighting key stats and takeaways.

The survey, opened in Feb. 2024, was available to the public for two months in digital and physical forms.

According to the document, 219 responses were received, representing 1.48 per cent of the county’s population.

The MRC’s economic development coordinator in charge of housing, Rachel Soar-Flandé, said the survey fills in some gaps in the MRC’s knowledge of housing needs across the territory, gaps she attributes to the fact that a large part of the region’s rental market operates “underground,” which makes proper data collection difficult.

The report, published at the end of March, is divided into four sections, including survey results from homeowners, landlords, tenants and employers, as well as a highlights section with some of Soar-Flandé’s key takeaways.

“We’re not analyzing the results, we’re just giving them out,” she said. “There are some highlights that are very interesting.”

The survey found that the majority of tenants in the region are between the ages of 50 and 69 years old, living on an annual household income of between $0 and $49,999.

Over 60 per cent of tenants surveyed said it was difficult to find accommodation, something she said is common, especially for newcomers to the region.

“We know that there are quite a lot of underground rentals,” she said, adding that many rentals are communicated through word of mouth, or through Facebook groups that may not be known to newcomers.

Soar-Flandé said a standout result for her was that 55 per cent of tenants reported they did not sign a lease agreement with their landlord.

“It’s a problem because there’s a lack of protection between the homeowners and the tenants,” she said, adding that a majority of landlords also reported not signing a lease agreement with their tenant. “It’s an insecurity for the tenants not to have something legal signed.”

She also highlighted data regarding renters’ satisfaction with their current accommodations.

“What is very, very interesting is that 25 per cent of landlords say what they rent out needs renovations, but as far as tenants are concerned, 53 per cent have said that the dwellings they live in need major renovations. So we’ve got a difference of opinions,” she said.

She added that the majority of renters who were renting a one-bedroom accommodation wanted to upgrade to a two- or three-bedroom.

“That is telling us that we have tenants that are living in conditions that don’t suit their needs.”

According to the survey, 58 per cent of tenants are not looking to move, a result she said could mean a few different things. “It could either reflect residential stability, or it could reflect a difficulty in finding another option,” she said.

Ashley Nadeau, director of Fort Coulonge women’s shelter L ’ EntourElle, said it is difficult even for her organization to locate vacant housing in which to place clients.

“With the lack of accommodation, we see stays that last nine months, sometimes a year,” she said. “What happens is that when our women are here nine months or a year, they are taking up beds, and we can’t free up those beds, which means there is no accessible housing for those women and their families.”

She was not surprised to hear that tenants might be displeased with their current living conditions as she hears this from her clients.

“This has been a perpetual challenge of ours for a few years now, finding accessible housing for these people,” she said, adding that housing conditions are sometimes dirty or unsuitable for a family. “These aren’t always rentals that are renovated or suitable.”

The comments section at the bottom of the report featured questions about the viability of building housing in green zones as well as general housing affordability.

“I wasn’t particularly surprised with the comments,” said Soar-Flandé. “Obviously there’s affordability that was brought up [ . . . ] it’s something that I think most people are concerned about.”

She said affordability and cost of development is one of the biggest hurdles preventing builders coming to the Pontiac right now, but with developers recently building in Shawville, she remains positive for the future.

“I know that we have the possibilities to develop and I’m getting more and more developers contacting me,” she said. “I say that the Pontiac, as far as development, it feels like it’s getting closer to Gatineau, because they’re reaching out further.”

Soar-Flandé said the statistics collected in the survey will be used in part to discuss opportunities with developers.

“We have an idea now of what kind of rent people are interested in, what size of dwelling they’re interested in,” she said, adding that the statistics collected will hopefully be able to help nonprofit organizations or municipalities get specific funding for housing, as certain market statistics are often required.

The report can be found on the housing section of MRC Pontiac’s website.