I recently read a well written article dated February 1, 2022 by Gavin Swartzman in “Storeys”, the online Real Estate newsletter/blog.  

In his article he mentions the Yellow Belt which, in this case, is not a type of wasp has or what you receive in Martial Arts but a 200 km “belt” that goes around the city of Toronto and encompasses approximately 70% of Toronto’s residential area.  Basically (and simplistically) this area is protected from development beyond what exists (ie.  a single family home can only be replaced with a single family home).  That and other city initiatives make it extremely difficult for developers to build within this Yellow Belt.  This issue makes the fact that we have a 1.2 million home gap between supply and demand and also that, according to Gavin, Toronto has only one-quarter of the population density of that of other global centres.

We all see the 50 and 60 story condo towers going up.  Almost everywhere you turn, especially downtown there are cranes erecting these new buildings that go into the sky.  But we are aren’t talking about are the infill projects or smaller developments that can go into existing residential neighbourhoods.

Doug Ford just announced, prior to the upcoming provincial election, his “Housing Affordability Task Force” to investigate addressing these challenges.  While this sounds good and anything is a step in the right direction, one problem is that the task force only makes recommendations and discusses planning meetings.  In other words, nothing definitive, right now, but basically, more delays when developers, home buyers and the city need action (more homes) now.  

If we are going to deal with the supply and demand issues in housing that is crippling our city now and causing massive average price increases we need bold, immediate initiatives now.  As I have said previously, the Feds putting a ban on foreign home buying for 2 years is really not a solution but just a short sited “answer” to appease voters, not to mention a loss of tax revenue from those foreign buyers in the way of property taxes and the provincial foreign buyers tax.  The ironic statistic is that foreign buyers account for less than 5% of homes purchased in Toronto.  Some studies say only 1%.

If you speak to a developer in Toronto they will say it is brutal, the red tape and delays, in getting a project off the ground.  No one is questioning that building rules, standards, and the laws are necessary to properly build but the length of time for hearings and inspections and variance rulings is crippling.  To say “if you are looking for a building variance on a project then you have to be prepared for a 2 year delay” is unreasonable.

In the time of crisis, bold steps are needed and rarely is that found in the political arena because of fears of upsetting one group or another.

The answer, acknowledging that we are in crisis with our lack of available housing and setting an immediate goal for new home development and making a road map for the future is needed now, not down the road.