A few weeks ago, I went to a local councillors debate here in Durham Region. It doesn’t matter which community as I felt the debate topics covered issues and talking points found in most towns. Especially, with candidates having limited or no knowledge of how the municipal act controls much of what goes on when it comes to, well in my world, building homes.
Let’s get one thing out there, Ontario is in a housing crisis. This was one of the main topics of conversation when it came to Durham Region Real Estate over the past few years and with the shifted market happening, I rarely hear about the crisis we are currently in. Mostly our attention has moved to mortgage rates jumping, inflation and the values of homes decreasing. To recap, the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force report released earlier this year identified several reasons for this current crisis and solutions to help. Simply stated: (I will paraphrase for ease of reading and context)
• Cut the red tape with regard to developments, building homes and getting shovels in the ground. Limit the public consultation to digital formats and set provincial standards for siting buildings on properties.
• Fast track the appeal process when a building application is declined, speeding up the process when neighbourhood objections cause unreasonable delays.
• Allow flexibility in zoning helping to create more multi-family properties to be built. (Currently 70% of land in Toronto is zoned for single family homes only.)
• Deal with NIMBY’ism. (not in my back yard) Meaning, neighborhood objections causing delays, or applications denied resulting in investments moving to other neighbourhoods or other friendlier locations.
Let’s review the housing crisis we currently find ourselves in. Ontario needs to build 1.2 million living units to bring the number of living units up to the average of units:1000 that other G7 countries have. Another interesting Task Force observation was with regards to the development process. When it comes to the timelines around getting building permits approved, of the 35 OECD countries, (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) Canada is 2nd to last in getting permits approved. Sadly, we are just ahead of the Slovak Republic.
What the candidates’ debate I sat in on covered mostly, was unanimous for most of the people speaking – they tended to demonize developers asking for more restrictions to building applications, more fees and taxation allowing them to build and recommending that developers give more land back to the municipalities for parks etc. In fact, one candidate had the vision of building a subway system.
When it comes to the municipal development process, one of the main issues is based on our democratic structure of 4-year election cycles. I have seen instances of councillors supporting constituents who block any development in their neighbourhood as a way of keeping on the residents’ good sides when it comes to election time.
What we, as a community need to do is encourage development, manage it in a way that is sustainable, ensure the process happens quickly and allow more multi-family residential buildings. If you look at areas outside of Durham, in the city of Toronto, the planning process of a condominium is somewhere between 8 – 10 years.
Developers are a “double edge” sword; we need them, yet we need to control the development so that our communities grow in a managed, environmentally friendly and logical manner. Increasing development charges or any other levies just adds to the unaffordability of the homes when they are finally available for sale.
As we move into this municipal election, keep in mind that the Greater Toronto Area is set to have more than 1,000,000 immigrants make their homes here in the next decade. If we continue along the path of blocking development, the crisis will get more pronounced, and the values will spike with more homeowners looking to buy than home sellers looking to sell.
If you have questions about housing in Durham Region, or are interested in buying or selling a home, I can be reached at lindsay@buyselllove.ca or 905-743-5555