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'Over to you, developers': York Region calls on industry to put shovels in ground and build affordable homes

Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario says supply alone won't solve housing crisis

Yorkregion.com
March 17, 2023
Kim Zarzour

It took Elizabeth 85 days to learn that there really are good people in York Region.

That’s how long before this single mom was able to find a compassionate landlord willing to rent a basement apartment to her and her three-year-old son on her very tight budget.

Elizabeth (we agreed not to use her real name due to a sensitive personal situation) had to move from a small town in southwestern Ontario to York Region to be closer to her son’s father.

She had 90 days to find a home, but everything was over $2,300 -- and out of reach.

For almost three months, she pounded the pavement, working with realtors, making appeals in person and on social media in her search for affordable housing.

“People living in these luxurious homes, they’re renting out basements with bedrooms with no windows, really dungeon-y, asking obscene amounts of money.”

Finally, she found a “kind” couple in Newmarket who rented her a basement unit for less than $2,000 a month.

“I get that it’s all about money, but I wish people could be more understanding,” she said. “It’s a real struggle. But there are good people out there.”

York Region chief planner Paul Freeman says Elizabeth’s plight is an example of what Bill 23 is supposed to address -- but misses the mark.

The province’s controversial “More Homes Built Faster” legislation targets 1.5 million new homes in 10 years by working, in part, to speed up the development approvals process.

But Freeman, chair of the Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario GGH caucus (RPCO), says a recent Ontario inventory count shows there are already plenty of homes in the works.

Fast-tracking supply alone will not fix the affordability problem, Freeman says. Collaboration with all stakeholders to build a mix of housing is critical.

The RCPO report released March 7 shows supply inventory already constitutes 85 per cent of the province’s 2032 goal. Even without Bill 23, 1,250,000 housing units are already approved and proposed, the report says.

In York Region, approximately 65,900 housing units are approved, plus an additional 114,900 proposed units are in the development application approval pipeline, according to a staff report to council Feb. 23.

The problem: a large portion of those proposed units are valued at well over a million dollars, Freeman said.

“Supply isn’t the whole picture. There needs to be more discussion about how to bring prices down for everybody -- all ages and income levels.”

In an emailed statement, Victoria Podbielski, spokesperson for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said regardless of the RPCO report, many Ontarians still face serious challenges due to lack of homes.

The province will continue to ensure “red tape and excessive costs” don’t stand in the way, she said.

“Even if all the approved units referenced in this report are built,” Podbielski said, “Ontario would still require hundreds of thousands of additional units” to meet the 1.5 million home target.

The RPCO report argues that if all of Ontario were included in the inventory (30 per cent of the population were not) the number of housing units in the development approval process could exceed the 1.5 million provincial target.

“Municipalities cannot make property owners build new housing. It is up to developers to decide whether and when to develop their lands.”

The bigger issue is whether developers will follow through and develop houses in the pipeline and not the Greenbelt, said Graham Churchill, Richmond Hill resident and director for the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (Ontario).

"The danger is now that Ford opened the Greenbelt, land that was worth very little is open to sprawl housing projects that are more profitable to them, as evidenced by the number of infill and condo projects that are now being cancelled."

Peter Miasek, a Markham resident and member of the Stop Sprawl York Region, says what’s needed is more collaboration and mechanisms to pressure developers to build the houses that have been approved.

“It clearly indicates we’re doing our part, when you have this many units that are draft approved, registered or in the pipeline,” Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said at a recent regional council meeting. “I say ‘over to you, development industry, get these homes built.’ ”