Home building industry has five-point plan to address housing supply and affordability crisis

Ontario Construction News staff writer

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) have released their top policy recommendations in a five-point plan for consideration by the provincial government for its new mandate.

The priorities are based on the February 2022 recommendations of the Housing Affordability Task Force and forward-thinking initiatives that are intended to lower housing costs and increase housing supply for Ontario residents.

“Ontario has a housing shortage, and the lack of supply is driving up housing costs across the province,” said Luca Bucci, CEO of the OHBA. “Ontario needs to build at least 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years to restore affordable housing prices.

“The five points that the industry is releasing present a bold vision on how to get more housing built quickly, so that every Ontarian can afford a place to call home. We call on the provincial government to continue to play a strong leadership role in defining this change and to work with our industry to implement these recommendations.”

While they agree there is no silver bullet solution to address the shortage of housing supply and the affordability challenges that come with it, BILD and OHBA are recommending changes to speed the delivery of new homes, add supply and bring balance to the market.

Recommendations include:

1. Making homes more affordable by speeding up approval times and eliminating red tape.  Each month of delay in approvals adds thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home.
2. Adding certainty to the cost of building a new home by addressing out-of-control development fees. Already, fees and taxes from all levels of government account for up to 25% of the cost of a new home.
3. Making new lands available to build new housing and support future growth, as home supply and costs are highly dependent on land availability.
4. Laying the infrastructure groundwork for future growth by ensuring servicing and transportation infrastructure are prioritized.
5. Taking the politics out of planning to ensure that local decision making does not undermine the provision of new housing.

“The evidence is clear, solutions have been identified, consensus has been achieved—now it’s time for action,” said Dave Wilkes, President and CEO of BILD. “Our industry’s five-point plan outlines the changes necessary to ensure that new home owners can afford to live in the GTA and that our region’s economy prospers in the long term.”