Rutherford, Craig

This report has two main purposes. The first is to identify which social service providers are involved in finding rental accommodation for clients and determining the challenges which are faced by these organizations as a consequence of landlord's concerns about renting to marginalized individuals. The second is to identify the approaches social service providers use to mitigate these landlord concerns to create best practice recommendations for the Haliburton- Kawartha Lakes-Pine Ridge (HKPR) region. Research was completed using an extensive and thorough literature review, email fact-finding and an online survey. Findings from this research included the identification of organizations within the HKPR region that work in housing and with individuals who are marginalized. The mitigation methods these organizations use such as rent supplements, arranging for repairs, and paying for damaged property to mitigate different landlord concerns were also identified. The main concerns landlords have are non-payment of rent, damaged property, and neighborhood. Innovative programs such as RentSmart Ontario and the critical role these programs play is highlighted in addition to new adaptations on the previously established Housing First ideology with the Tiny Homes program.