It is refreshing to see some municipalities beginning to walk the talk when it comes to tackling our housing supply crisis.
Last May, for example, the City of Burlington passed a bylaw to reduce developers fees by 45 per cent. Several months later, in November, the City of Vaughan rolled back its rates to those in effect in 2018.
Disturbingly, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca has been criticized for suggesting that York Region examine a policy similar to the one passed by his municipality. Newmarket Mayor John Taylor and Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh recently spoke against the concept during a regional report at council.
However, it is a positive step as a report done for RESCON revealed that the tax burden on a newly constructed home in Ontario has jumped to almost 36 per cent of the purchase price, up from 31 per cent just three years ago. Development charges make up a big chunk of the figure.
Recently, the City of Mississauga stepped up after receiving a lengthy report from more than 30 top developers and builders in the private and not-for-profit housing sectors. The group was assembled by Mayor Carolyn Parrish to come up with ideas to address the housing crisis.
Mississauga Takes Action
The Mississauga report is more than a collection of ideas. The task force put forward 30 recommendations to speed up development. It also sets a bold, new target of building 370,000 homes in the city by 2051 – an increase 124,000 units from the previous goal of 246,000.
Recommendations in the task force report will be used to guide the city’s future efforts on housing.
Over a four-month period, the experts recommended ways to kick-start development and get homes built more quickly and affordably, streamline processes to make it easier to build in Mississauga, and create the incentives needed to deliver homes.
Cities play a pivotal role in enabling the construction of new homes, but municipal processes often create delays and uncertainty that can derail projects, making them financially unfeasible. The task force recommendations are aimed at changing that narrative.
The task force recommended that development, charges, taxes and fees be reformed as new home sales have tumbled and the market has reached a point where the sales prices needed to make a project viable are higher than what most purchasers are willing to pay.
The group of experts noted that reforming government taxes and fees – even as a short-term measure – can help make housing projects viable for developers and affordable for homeowners.
The task force came up with 14 ways to reform the fee system and recommended that development charges and community benefits charge payments be deferred until construction is complete. Additionally, the task force suggested that the municipality seek financial support from the higher levels of government to offset municipal costs, and that the provincial and federal governments waive the HST and GST for all new home purchasers.
The task force also looked at how to create efficiencies across the industry and suggested that building and design standards by updated so they help rather than hinder good city-building.
Seven specific actions were recommended to create efficiencies, including streamlining regulations that impose unnecessary constraints, simplifying building and urban design standards, and implementing a simplified site plan application process to promote quicker approvals.
To get more homes built, the task force also suggested that zoning reforms need to be simplified to increase as-of-right zoning in growth areas to avoid lengthy rezoning applications which would unlock mid-rise housing along commercial corridors and near transit.
According to the task force, Mississauga should create sustainable programs and long-term funding that will mobilize industry to help meet the demand for affordable housing.
A Blueprint to Follow
The goal of owning a home is out of reach for too many people. Many young people are leaving our cities and heading to other provinces or south of the border to look for housing they can afford.
Mississauga – and the municipalities of Burlington and Vaughan – should be commended for taking steps to address the housing issue. Instead of ignoring the problem, they’ve taken action.
The housing crisis is serious and shows no signs of abating. Starts and sales are abysmal. My hope is that the work that these three municipalities are doing can serve as a blueprint for others to follow.