Provincial policy guides home building
Re Industry must act on housing affordability, June 21 When looking at housing affordability we must look at all the facts. A recent C.D. Howe Institute report, “Through the Roof: The High Cost of Barriers to Building New Housing in Canadian Municipalities,” suggests zoning rules, restrictions on developing agricultural land and development charges directly influence both new and existing housing prices.
Furthermore, a report prepared for the Building Industry and Land Development Association by Altus Group consultants, titled “Government Charges and Fees on New Homes in the Greater Toronto Area,” found that even before a shovel hits the ground, the average government charges for each new, single detached home in the GTA are roughly $186,300, or 21.7 per cent of the average price for a new home and 24.7 per cent of the price of a new condo.
Since 2006, under the province’s Growth Plan, the new home industry has built far more highdensity condo developments and fewer singlefamily homes. The industry is building these types of homes because provincial policy tells us to. The industry has been asked to intensify GTA neighbourhoods and communities.
The building industry, the province of Ontario, municipalities, planners and residents all need to work together to meet the housing needs of the GTA that, according to Statistics Canada, is expected to swell to 9.7 million people, or 115,000 net new residents per year, by 2041.
We are going to have to build homes for these people to live in. Let’s look at the facts and devise a plan that makes housing affordable for all. Dave Wilkes, president and CEO, Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)