How Toronto’s city council plans to boost the construction of rental housing
THE GREEN LINE
DOCUMENTERS NOTES
How Toronto City council wants to encourage the construction of rental housing
City Council proposed incentives to boost purpose-built rental homes amid concerns over rising rents and housing shortages.
The Toronto City Council held a meeting on Nov. 13 in City Hall's main auditorium and proposed incentives for developers to build rental housing units.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
Karen Chan
A Chinatown-based artist, graduate of University of British Columbia and a bunny mom. She is interested in storytelling to build community.
Nov. 14, 2024
These city meeting notes are part of Documenters Canada. Learn more about our program here.Â
Are you looking to rent an apartment in Toronto? You might want to catch up on the details of the latest city council proposal for construction incentives.Â
On Nov. 13, Documenter Karen Chan attended the city council meeting and reported on a proposed initiative to expand purpose-built rental homes across Toronto.Â
According to the Housing Secretariat, the city is experiencing two housing crises:
- There is a lack of affordable housing for low-income and vulnerable residents.Â
- Rising rents have made it increasingly unaffordable for middle income earners, key workers and professionals to live in the city.
Mayor Olivia Chow said developers are not building right now because it’s too expensive, adding that the high interest rate environment has slowed construction of new units. She also warned that the housing crisis could worsen in a few years and pointed out that people who wait 10 years for rent-geared-to-income housing sometimes die on the waiting list.
To alleviate the housing crisis, the city council proposed incentives for purpose-built rental homes (PBRH) under the city’s Rental Supply Housing Program. A purpose-built rental home is a building unit designed specifically for long-term rental or tenancy rather than ownership.
 This proposal will support purpose-built rentals by deferring development charges and reducing property taxes by 15 per cent over 35 years.
The city council will also direct Abigail Bond, executive director of Housing Secretariat, to require the rental housing projects to include at least 20 per cent of built units as affordable rental homes. This means the proposed initiative will support the construction of 20,000 rental homes, of which at minimum 4,000 will be affordable rental homes.Â
The estimated cost of this initiative to the city is $325 million.Â
Coun. Gord Perks, who represents Parkdale-High Park, expressed concern that the $325 million "bailout" for private developers would divert the funds from the maintenance of public resources like parks, recreation facilities, community centres and other public spaces.Â
A letter from Neighbourhood Pods TO also expressed opposition to the initiative and called it a bailout for private developers. They recommended the incentives for developers be redirected to support rent-geared-to-income housing on city-owned land instead.
What were the outcomes of the discussions?
The motion to adopt the incentives for more PBRH was approved with 23 votes in favour, one opposed and two absent. Â
What does our Documenter have to say?Â
According to the Canadian Urban Institute, the Kensington-Chinatown area has a high proportion of renters (5,975) to owners (2,655) with 14 per cent not suitably housed. As an effort to expand the supply of rental housing, Alexandra Park’s Toronto Community Housing Development will refurbish and build 806 rent-geared-to-income units as well as 1540 market units. However, according to the report, this project won't be completed until 2040.Â
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