Tag: Fair Housing Policy

By: Nicolas Di Nardo

Toronto’s chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat says you won’t be able to have the traditional starter home that previous generations have had in the city of Toronto anymore.

With current prices, increased condo and apartment developments, and fewer single-family homes being built, the idea of a starter home with a patch of grass is starting to disappear.

As stated in previous blogs about:

• Affordable Housing Should Be a High Priority for the Next Provincial Election
• Toronto Must Figure Out Housing Solutions or Risk Losing Top Young Talent
• Toronto Housing Solution: Laneway Suites
• Affluent Boomers are Taking Pressure from ‘YIMBY’ Groups in the GTA

All expectations must now change, as Toronto’s housing landscape takes a turn. Jennifer has even encouraged her own children to imagine raising a family in an apartment, rather than a house.

From previous research conducted, as mentioned in our previous blog, housing preferences for the next set of homebuyers is out of sync with what is currently available, as well as what home-buyers are capable of affording.

With the statistics listed in the above blog post:

In April, Toronto’s detached re-sale homes hit $1.6 million on average. To make matters worse, young professionals aged 18-39 say:

• 32% plan to buy a home in the next year
• 58% say high prices are why they won’t buy a house in the next year
• 19% will stay in their current home
• 17% want a townhouse
• 51% want a detached house
• 13% want a semi-detached
• 17% already own a home

It makes housing a much more important issue when you compare the above stats with the single statistic that, 83 per cent of housing built from 2011 to 2016 in Toronto consisted of midrise and high-rise apartments.

Jennifer went before the Toronto Region Board of Trade (TRBOT) with all of her concerns, and even suggested that condo developers should reconsider the amenities they put into their buildings. For example:

• Replace pools with gymnasiums
• Introduce craft and media rooms

As a result, there will be a focus on young children and provide a more welcoming environment for families.

From all of these developments in the Toronto real estate market, young professionals are the ones most effected. As mentioned in another blog post and in Jennifer’s speech, young professionals are fighting against foreign investment, rising prices, and the fact that the housing they want is either occupied or sought after by other parties. To make matters worse, millennials are faced with these obstacles while on an entry level salary or position, pushing them further and further out of the market and the city.

Hence, the push for laneway suites and town-homes. These two solutions could help increase the housing options in the city while using existing structures and limiting the development of new communities. This idea was discussed following Jenn’s speech and was also a topic for one of our previous blogs and it is believed that if this is implemented, it will add “gentle density” to areas around the city. Considering 62 per cent of land in the city is zoned for single family homes and Toronto has 300 kilometres of laneways, there is space to work with for the development of town-homes and laneway suites.

The Fair Housing policy, along with the involvement from developers, the city, other levels of government, and public support, Toronto’s housing will eventually become affordable and provide an abundance of housing options for all levels of income and preference. Once the YIMBYs can outweigh the influence of the NIMBYs, everything will fall in place for Torontonians. At least, that’s the hope.

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“This article is intended to inform and entertain. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.”