Pay close attention to upcoming civic election
Growth is a fundamental component of prosperity. Growth and prosperity go hand in hand.
Our Industry plays a pivotal role in the growth and prosperity of our city. We create the neighbourhoods and build the houses that define our city’s growth. We play a vital role in attracting new companies and skilled and qualified workers to our city through the provision of quality housing and choice. In turn, our industry contributes back into the economy by creating jobs and wages — wages which are spent locally, creating even more economic growth and prosperity.
The City of Regina also plays a role in Regina’s growth. The city controls and monitors land supply, infrastructure investment, building and development fees and charges, the timing of development application and building permit approvals, and taxes — items that directly impact Regina’s growth — items that directly impact our industry.
That is why the residential construction industry is paying close attention to the upcoming civic election on Oct. 24 and one of the items that is topping the election agenda is housing affordability. And so it should. This is an issue that impacts us all. It is an issue that pales the proposed stadium concerns by comparison. That is because the proposed stadium will not have nearly the economic impact on Regina citizens as will the issues related to housing and development.
The cost of housing relative to income is a key determining factor in quality of life and a key component in attracting the skilled workers that are so important to our economic growth.
Canada has endorsed the view that housing is a basic human right. Municipalities, including municipal councils, policy-makers, and planners, have a unique opportunity to ensure that people’s human rights are respected in the design and delivery of policy affecting housing and development in Regina by ensuring that their decisions do not negatively impact housing affordability.
There are the two areas to watch closely. First, the area of government imposed costs. In August 2012, according to Statistics Canada’s New Housing Price Index, Regina leads only behind Toronto as having the largest year-over-year and monthly increases in new homes prices so far in 2012. The main reason for this increase? The most significant drivers of cost have been raw land (increasing in speculative value) and government fees and levies.
Further to this, a Canada West Foundation study found that when government imposes costs on new home development, not only are the prices of new homes affected, but the prices of all houses in the city also increase by that same cost. In other words as the cost of building new homes increases, the price of all houses in the city increases, thereby impacting housing affordability right across the board.
Secondly, studies show that one of the most pervasive factors impacting the cost of housing in general, which also falls under municipal government jurisdiction, is the practice of urban containment through the restriction of Greenfield development (the development of new land on the urban fringe). This is a solution that is offered to combat “urban sprawl” — restricting growth on the city’s urban fringe and concentrating on infill development.
However, if land use policies were to restrict the development of land during this period of economic prosperity, in-migration to our city, and increased demand for housing, this would have the disastrous consequence of driving up the price of housing.
When government imposed costs and restrictive land use policies have negative impacts on housing affordability this decreases the quality of life that makes our city an attractive place to live — qualities that are essential in attracting the skilled labour that is an essential part of our continued growth. As such, if we are to remain well poised to continue to grow and prosper in the long run the cost of housing relative to income must remain affordable.
The Residential Construction Industry is positioned to work closely with policy and decision makers to ensure that housing affordability is an underlying consideration in all decisions related to housing and development in Regina. By supporting a growth agenda, City of Regina citizens can support the issue of housing affordability as well.
Ultimately, the decisions of city council impact not only our industry, and those purchasing newly built homes, but by impacting housing affordability right across the board, the city’s housing and development decisions impact us all. By voting for those candidates who support a growth agenda, we all will benefit. On Oct. 24, get out and vote for the continued growth and prosperity of our city.