Housing prices top crime as No. 1 worry for York Region this election

Surveys by Building Industry and Land Development Association and the Toronto Real Estate Board spelled out voters’ priorities in the upcoming municipal elections

Yorkregion.com
September 17, 2018
Dina Ibrahim

The deadly van attack in North York or the double fatal shooting in Vaughan this year would make one imagine that crime and security top the main concern for York Region’s residents.

However, skyrocketing housing prices are, in fact, the prime concern for York Region’s residents, according to a new poll by two North York-based groups.

After surveying 1,503 Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residents, the poll by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) spelled out voters’ priorities in the upcoming municipal elections on Oct. 22.

The poll found the hefty cost of housing is the leading concern for 42 per cent of those living in the York Region while the lack of infrastructure came out as second at 37 per cent while crime ranked third at 30 per cent.

“The cost of housing and lack of infrastructure are more important than crime among top municipal election issues in York Region,” Justin Sherwood, SVP Stakeholder Relations & Communications, BILD, told York Region Media Group.

While a whopping 93 per cent believe owning a home is becoming difficult to achieve, about 83 per cent of respondents consider home ownership as a top priority.

“The majority of York Region residents feel that the dream of home ownership is difficult to achieve and that their children will not be able to grow up in the same community they did,” Sherwood said.

About 87 per cent feel that it is important to them that young families can afford to live in GTA yet 26 per cent feel their children will not be able to afford a home in the community where they grew up in York Region.

The impact of the cost of housing also has a “negative” trickle down effect, Sherwood added. 

The skyrocketing prices for housing is seen as a hindrance for about 22 per cent of residents, who want to finally own a home, 27 per cent who need to make upgrades to their current places, and 40 per cent of those who need to save for retirement.

York Region’s sentiments compared to Toronto?

The need for affordable homes also tops priorities for York Region’s residents if compared to those living elsewhere.

In Toronto and Peel about 39 per cent consider it as a main priority while 31 per cent of those living in Durham feel that way, and 29 per cent in Halton. 

However, across the board, the common denominator for almost 40 per cent of respondents is that the cost of housing is among their top-three election issues, statistically tied with crime and infrastructure.

Another group warns politicians

The poll comes on the heels of a report published on Tuesday by the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

The nonprofit organization has not only warned politicians over the lack of affordable housing in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) but it has also urged residents to mobilize their voting power in the upcoming municipal elections.

In the report, Toronto was described as “quickly becoming one of the world’s least affordable cities” despite an August report by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which included mega-expensive Vancouver as well as Toronto and Calgary in its 2018 list of the world’s most livable cities.

The board cited the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis when it said that GTHA’s “households spend 50 per cent or more of their disposable income on shelter costs.”

The high cost of housing is pushing 42 per cent of 800 young professionals to leave the region, it said.

The board cautioned if bold steps are not taken by voters and politicians alike, GTA’s overall competitiveness especially when luring foreign investment could be harmed.

“Unless policy-makers facilitate the construction of more housing, we risk losing talented workers and well-paying jobs to other cities,” the board warned, calling for “more affordable, attainable and desirable housing, located near employment hubs and transit stations.”