We have plenty of land. Location drives prices

We are dismayed by a recent editorial that reinforces the misconception that provincial protections for environmental and agricultural land are to blame for rising housing prices.

The Record asserts that policies that “protect farmland and natural areas … are … the engines driving the house-price elevator through the ceiling.”

It suggests we have to further weaken our natural and agricultural areas to make housing affordable. Fortunately, this is wrong.

These arguments assume that provincial smart growth policies have created a shortage of land for new development. But the most up-to-date research on our area, the Greater Golden Horseshoe surrounding Toronto, shows there is plenty of land already designated for development under provincial plans.

The Neptis Foundation examined each plot of land designated for development in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and found that only 20 per cent of that land has been built on since 2006. The remaining 80 per cent, Neptis notes, is still available for urban development over the next 15 years.

Keep in mind that most of the development in these new areas is detached houses. The province has estimated that, as of 2011, about three-quarters of the units being built in these designated lands were singledetached homes.

So if there’s no shortage of land under provincial policies, and if we’re still mostly building single-detached homes, why do we keep hearing that there’s a shortage of land for single-detached houses?

The provincial government is conducting a 10-year review of its land use policies. They’re preparing to strengthen these policies, which are popular and fiscally prudent for governments and residents alike.

But some in the development industry who are used to making money building on farmland would like us to believe that housing will be more affordable if only they’re allowed to build however and wherever they want.

So why has the average price of a detached home in downtown Toronto risen to $1.3 million, as the Record notes?

The issue isn’t a shortage of land. It’s primarily a shortage of space. The most expensive homes are those in the most desirable areas.

There simply isn’t the space to build enough single-detached houses in the most desirable locations to meet demand and keep home prices low. If location didn’t matter, the average price of a house in downtown Toronto would be the same as it is in Oshawa, as Toronto’s chief planner often points out. Instead, it’s about five times as much.

In this context of limited space, home buyers need to consider what their priorities are. Families must choose what they value most: size, location, or price. Some who can afford it will buy expensive, detached houses in places like downtown Toronto. Some will chose to live in more dense townhomes or apartments, and stay close to where they work or where they want to live. Some will move to the outskirts of our cities, or even to other cities. Real housing affordability, and varied and affordable opportunities for home ownership, will only come when we have real housing choice for diverse families. The vast majority of our existing housing is singledetached homes.

We continue to build those. But we need to build more townhomes and apartments to accommodate more people in the places where they want to be.

Provincial smart growth plans provide the main tools we need: making new lands available for new homes, requiring that municipalities allow more housing to be built in existing core areas, and protecting our most valuable natural and agricultural resources.

Only when we have more housing in more neighbourhoods will homeowners be able to make meaningful choices about where and how they want to live.