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How inclusionary zoning stands to grow affordable housing in Ontario

February 23rd, 2017 by Claudia Pedrero

This article was first published on rabble.ca

On December 6, 2016, the Ontario legislature passed the Promoting Affordable Housing Act, 2016, expanding the powers of Ontario municipalities to implement “inclusionary zoning,” a requirement for developers to build affordable units when constructing new market‑rate housing. The Act changes the provincial Planning Act, RSO 1990, c.P.13, by obliging some municipalities, while making it optional for others, to adopt inclusionary zoning policies. A discussion on the adoption of the Act and debates surrounding its inclusionary zoning provisions can be found on our firm’s blog.

These legislative changes come years after rising housing prices, lagging income levels and dwindling federal and provincial funding have created an increasing need for new affordable housing in Ontario. Significantly, according to the 2017 Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, over the past 13 years Toronto’s house prices have nearly doubled compared to household incomes, thus making market-rate housing unaffordable for an increasingly larger portion of the population. The same study also notes that nearby areas such as Hamilton and Oshawa are becoming unaffordable for middle‑income residents.

What inclusionary zoning will look like on the ground remains unanswered. By extension, it is difficult to predict whether the changes will have a significant impact on the need for affordable housing in Ontario. For example, it is unclear what an “affordable unit” means under the new changes and how affordable units will have to be priced. However, the province is slated to release regulations in early 2017 that will hopefully give some meat to its approach and allow municipalities to develop their policies and bylaws. Continue reading “How inclusionary zoning stands to grow affordable housing in Ontario”

The province makes a move towards affordable housing

December 12th, 2016 by Celia Chandler

Last week Bill 7, Promoting Affordable  Housing Act, 2016, passed third reading and received Royal Assent.  Bill 7 is part of the government’s Long‑Term Affordable Housing Strategy.

The province’s news release describes Bill 7 as a way to increase the supply of affordable housing and modernize social housing in the following four ways:

  • By giving municipalities the option to implement inclusionary zoning, which requires affordable housing units to be included in residential developments;
  • By making secondary suites such as above-garage apartments or basement units in new homes less costly to build, by exempting them from development charges. Secondary suites are a potential source of affordable rental housing and allow homeowners to earn additional income;
  • By giving local service managers more choice in how they deliver and administer social housing programs and services to reduce wait lists and make it easier for people in Ontario to access a range of housing options;
  • By encouraging more inclusive communities and strengthening tenant rights by preventing unnecessary evictions from social housing and creating more mixed-income housing; and
  • By gathering data about homelessness in Ontario by requiring service managers to conduct local enumeration of those who are homeless in their communities, so that Ontario can continue to work towards its goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2025.

The bill was passed, but not everyone is thrilled with it and the sticking point seems to be the inclusionary zoning option.  (Regular readers of our blog will know that inclusionary zoning is an approach that we’re interested in and something we’ve blogged about before.)   At Tuesday’s debate, the NDP’s Percy Hatfield expressed the concerns of Toronto Councillor and strong housing advocate, Ana Bailao, and of the co‑op sector’s Harvey Cooper.  Both are worried that as it’s presented, inclusionary zoning will force municipalities to make hard choices between housing and other community improvements like daycare and parks, so called “section 37 benefits” .    As inclusionary zoning will be optional for municipalities, time will tell what the uptake is and where it is adopted, how effective it is as a tool to expand the affordable housing stock.

More immediately though for our clients, Bill 7 amends the Residential Tenancies Act to clarify that neither a landlord nor a non‑profit housing co‑op can give an eviction notice “on the ground that the member has ceased to be eligible for, or has failed to take any step necessary to maintain eligibility for, rent-geared-to-income assistance as defined in section 38 of the Housing Services Act, 2011.”  These amendments, in force immediately, are found in the RTA at section 58(3) (for landlords) and section 94.2(3) (for housing co‑ops).

Positive developments for Ontario’s non‑profit housing sector

March 14th, 2016 by Celia Chandler

In an announcement today by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister McMeekin, the province announced a number of changes to its Affordable Housing Strategy; these changes will surely work to ease the burden on our overstretched non‑profit housing providers.

Many of these initiatives are ideas that have been kicked around for awhile but haven’t had political support. Inclusionary zoning has been introduced in private members bills a number of times as discussed in our September 2014 rabble article. We’re pleased to see that McMeekin included it in his announcement today. Although it would be an option for municipalities, not mandatory, it has the potential of a real impact on the number of affordable housing units being built. Beyond just the need for more affordable units, the need for more and better supportive housing is paramount as is the need for Ontarions to be able to move their housing subsidies from landlord to landlord – and today’s announcement makes commitments in these areas too. Subsidized housing providers will be thrilled to know that the province recognises that the current process of calculating rent‑geared‑to‑income is cumbersome and that there are plans to simplify the formula.

Take a read of the summary of the province’s announcement. And stay tuned to our blog for more information as the province’s plans become concrete.

 

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July 23rd, 2019 by Iler Campbell