Page 6 - May-June 2023 REPORTER - web optimzed

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

THE HOUSING CRSIS -

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

TREVOR SMALL
LBMAO President

have listened carefully to the back-and-forth debate on what should in the greenbelt. It also limited development inside the greenbelt to
I happen to Ontario Place, and this has grown to include the Ontario slow expansion for areas not designated for housing.
Science Centre. The general feeling is that public land should be used What this legislation has done is make land (whether under
for the public – whether that be as recreation areas or as affordable existing homes or under to be built neighbourhoods) inside the
housing. It got me thinking about the notion of affordable housing. greenbelt extremely expensive. It has become like lakefront property
Who should build it, who should own it and who should be allowed – they aren’t making any more and if you want it, you pay top dollar.
to live in it? These are all important questions for the building industry. It has also led to areas just outside the greenbelt area to grow at
While our members are not builders or owners of housing, what's unprecedented speed and has now driven that land up in value. See
happening in the Ontario Home Building industry is very important to Woodstock, Paris, Brantford, among others.
the businesses we are part of. The urban sprawl is still happening. It has just moved further away
A friend of mine sent an interesting note about housing the other from the Golden Horseshoe. This legislation, while well intentioned
day. He showed two different single-family homes in Niagara Falls. One has had several very serious negative effects on Ontario Housing.
was in Niagara Falls, Ontario, the other in Niagara Falls, New York. The
Ontario home was a modest 1.5 story, three bedroom, 2 bath home 1. Younger people and new immigrants cannot afford to buy into
with 938 square feet and a yard which was .18 of an acre lot. This home this market. The income levels needed to cover the mortgage
was built in the mid 1960’s. The New York home was a newer home, payments are not sustainable.
built in 2002. It had 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. (I always snicker about 2. Rental housing costs have skyrocketed as well. Rental
how you get a ½ bath) This home has a two-car garage and a .2-acre property values have gone up, driving up the cost for renters.
lot. Both homes were heated with natural gas. From the listings the
New York home was much nicer. The incredible part of this story is the This has made Ontario Housing unaffordable. No amount of
Ontario home was listed for $550,000 while the New York home was messing with the Science Centre will make housing affordable. The
listed for $165,000. These homes are 17km apart. Now you may say way to fix the affordability problem in Ontario to completely rethink
that the exchange rate makes the difference. At todays exchange the the Greenbelt legislation. It needs to be done soon.
$165,000 would be equal to $224,400 Canadian. Wow!
Does the invisible line (the border) add that much value to our
Canadian housing? Why is the smaller house more than twice as
expensive as the one 17 km away? I look at material costs – our lumber
yards are not getting more than twice the price for lumber and building
materials than in the US. The builders and contractors in Canada are not
getting twice the price that their American counterparts are collecting.
The issue is the land cost and values. In 2005 the Ontario government
passed legislation than protected “greenbelt areas” in the province.
The legislation stipulated the areas that can be developed for housing

6 LBMAO Reporter - May-June 2023 www.lbmao.on.ca