Missing middle: housing strategy for Mississauga

NRU
March 15, 2017
By Andrew Cohrs

Faced with a dwindling housing supply available to middle-income earners, Mississauga has unveiled a
draft housing strategy aimed at increasing the number of affordable homeownership and market rental units. The strategy proposes that 35 per cent of housing built each year be available either as affordable
home ownership or market rental units. However, to achieve the target, city officials say they will need assistance from other governments.

“While we can do our best to take care of the people who need to the services provided by the public housing stock, there are also those people out there who really cannot afford housing and they wouldn’t
qualify for access to the public housing stock because their [household] income is moderate ... ” Peel integrated planning director Arvin Prasad told NRU. “So they don’t qualify for financial assistance or subsidized housing but they still have a serious problem in terms of accessing housing.

Even when they do, many of them are just one mortgage payment away from losing it ... It is amazing how many people are in this situation.”

Labelled “a call to action” by Mayor Bonnie Crombie, the strategy illustrates potential ways for the local municipality, despite the limitations on it in a two-tier municipal system, to encourage a broader mix of
housing in the market. Backed by research in 2015 and 2016 that looked at municipal best practices, the city conducted a housing gap assessment and studied the cost of providing housing incentives. The draft
strategy points out that one in three Mississauga residents spends more than 30 per cent of household income on housing.

According to the research, low-income households are most in need of housing and more likely to be spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.

But Mississauga also found that more than 26 per cent of moderate-income households spend in excess of 30 per cent on housing. Since Peel region is responsible for subsidized housing, Mississauga is
targeting the “missing middle” or individuals and families with household incomes between $55,000 and $100,000 - defined as moderate income.

The strategy proposes a yearly target of 35 per cent of all new residential construction for affordable homeownership (below $400,000), with market rentals priced at approximately $1,200 per month.

The strategy acknowledges that providing incentives for housing still requires significant partnerships with higher levels of government. Among 40 actions listed for possible implementation by Mississauga, the strategy identifies several top priorities: a review of taxation policies by senior levels of government and the introduction of tax credits to create incentives for the construction of affordable housing as well as the use of pilot studies to allow for pre-zoning land for higher densities and a partnership with Peel Region to develop an inclusionary zoning incentive program.

Planning and development committee chair George Carlson told NRU that the strategy is as much about changing mindsets and challenging NIMBYism as it is about focusing assistance on middle-income earners who have been largely ignored by affordable housing policy in Mississauga. He says that while streamlining planning approvals is important, it is equally important to get residents to support the notion of better, more intensive land uses.

“The strategy is basically [about] getting [this housing issue] on the table so lawmakers can be aware of it and start helping regular folks that make regular incomes because they are basically not buying houses in Mississauga anymore.”

Prasad said that the region supports the strategy and is actively discussing ways to share financial resources. He adds that while inclusionary zoning legislation is important, public dollars have a role to play in sharing the cost of creating affordable units.

“We are going to take a look at how we can work with Mississauga on the financial aspects of [the strategy]. You can’t be blind to the financial issue. We are looking at that issue here and trying to understand the implications for the region’s finances but also the positive implications of creating more housing stock.... The total burden of [Inclusionary zoning] cannot be placed on just the development industry. There needs to be a partnership [among] the private sector, perhaps non-profit developers, perhaps the region and perhaps senior levels of government.”

Carlson agrees. He says that finding the money to address housing issues in Mississauga is the primary barrier, noting the rising cost of land.

“The dirty little secret of this whole exercise is that we can do things like streamline approval process and reduce lot levies and so on but the bucket is draining faster than we fill it up. So that is the challenge: how do you acquire [the funding]?”

The draft strategy will be considered by the planning and development committee on March 20.