IT’S JUST NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH MONEY.

While some municipalities have already evened the playing field, in others the property tax rate that owners of rental apartments pay is greater than that paid by owners of a similarly sized condominium unit.

The province says the move, which applies across Ontario, will encourage developers to build more new purpose-built rental housing, but not all agree. “It’s just nowhere near enough money. It’s an incredibly risky thing to build a $100 million or $200 million property, deliver it vacant (as opposed to pre-selling units like in a condominium) and then try to make money through all the future economic possibilities,” said Brad Lamb, a Toronto developer. 7. Introducing a targeted $125-million, five-year program to further encourage the construction of new rental apartment buildings by rebating a portion of development charges

Jim Murphy, president of Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario, said that money is not even going to come close to dealing with the shortfall created by rent control.

“We did a survey of 15 builders, a small sample, and it equated to $2.7 billion of planned new construction for rental, that’s a small sample. That money is now at risk, so $125 million is a very small amount.” 8. Allowing municipalities greater taxing tools, including a vacant land tax

With house prices rising quickly, there have been complaints about developers holding onto land and even hoarding it as they wait for prices to raise.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Tal. “It is not a secret that land hoarding (by land owners or developers) plays a (secondary) role in the lack of land supply in the GTA. At the margin, that tax might help to accelerate developments, but it might be very difficult to implement without a high level of co-operation with municipalities.” 9. Creating a new “housing supply team” with dedicated provincial employees to identify barriers to specific housing development projects and find solutions

Building industry officials noted there was nothing in the announcement Thursday about the Ontario Municipal Board, the provincial body that reviews planning issues. They say they are more concerned about changes to the OMB and maintain delays in appeals are costing time and money. 10. Understanding and tackling practices that may be contributing to tax avoidance and excessive speculation Assignment clauses were specifically mentioned by Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa in a press conference. Generally, buyers are “paper-flipping” those properties before a deal even closes. The province seems to want to make sure it is getting properly compensated under the land transfer tax when such arrangements take place and will share the information with the Canada Revenue Agency.