Market Update for November 19

After a battle between the city and province that’s lasted for decades, Toronto will soon require developers to build affordable units in new condo buildings in an attempt to add thousands of homes below market value in the coming years. Councillors voted 23 to 2 to use a new power called inclusionary zoning, which allows the city to compel developers to make five to 10 per cent of units affordable in new towers within 500 metres of major transit stations starting in September 2022. That percentage will increase to eight to 22 per cent by 2030, depending on the neighbourhood.

The city says it’s developing a website for people to apply for an affordable unit. Staff are considering a lottery system. Toronto will work with community housing groups to manage renting and selling the units, although details are still being worked out. The policy is aimed at those too poor to afford Toronto’s home prices but not poor enough to qualify for social housing. The units would remain affordable for 99 years, with rents and prices limited. Ownership and rent prices will be geared to households earning between $32,486 to $91,611 a year and won’t exceed 30 per cent of their income.

David Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, told CBC Toronto that developers support inclusionary zoning, but think the costs should be shared. They’d asked for the city to waive fees and taxes for the affordable units, which account for about 25 per cent of the cost to build them. Otherwise, the cost will be reflected in higher prices of the market value units and passed on to those homeowners. Land, construction, and operating costs are high in a city such as Toronto. If developers decide they can’t make a buck on a project under the new regime, they may just delay or cancel it.

Developers, after all, have been making money hand over fist during the great Canadian housing boom. Why not simply require them to include affordable, below-market units in any project they build? Other cities have tried it. Affordable-housing advocates love it. Those deep-pocketed developers can afford it.

But this City Council legislation doesn’t seek a partnership with developers. It’s simply forcing something on them; something they don’t want. If you think, for a single moment, that developers are going to absorb the cost of this legislation, give your head a shake. Developers are going to pass this cost along to the buyers.