Mike Moffatt: Canada’s housing crisis demands a war-time effort
Mike Moffatt: Canada’s housing crisis demands a war-time effort
The key to an effective housing strategy is speed. The federal government must avoid setting up new approvals processes and micromanaging the system.
The federal government must prioritize speed over micromanagement
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If Canada is anything like the US there isn’t a housing shortage, there’s a shortage of will to rein in developers and landlords.
there’s a shortage of will to rein in developers and landlords.
yeah, that's pretty much it.
Developers make their money producing more housing, it's in their interest for more housing to be built.
Landlords are often motivated in the opposite direction. They want to block competing housing developments to keep rents high.
I don't agree with that.
While yes, developers and landlords are a problem, they're a symptom of the problem, which is a genuine shortage of housing. If there's plenty of homes to go around, then it won't be possible for homes to be sold for millions and apartments requiring a salary over 60k.
There's a major supply issue, and the key components for it is zoning laws and the need for neighbourhood association approval. Change zoning to allow mixed use housing in all commercial spaces, and all residential to allow townhouses and low/midrise apartments, as well as remove the need or any association approval, and we wouldn't have a housing issue at all.
Most new homes are massive condos and apartments because it takes years to go from purchasing a piece of land to having it approved. So every developer is going to try to maximize their profits by making it as big and expensive as possible since they can't just pump out a ton of projects quickly. That, and the fact that anybody who tries to get into the business just gets blocked because they get put into the backend of a wait list for association review that takes over a decade, and thus, all the developments are expensive.