Last Updated on April 2, 2024 by CREW Editorial
Housing affordability is increasingly out of reach for many Canadians – and it might get worse.
According to RBC, in the Toronto area, ownership costs amount to 84 per cent of median household income. The situation is even worse in the Vancouver region where the figure is 103 per cent.
CMHC considers housing to be affordable if it takes up about 30 per cent of income, so we are trending in the wrong direction. The rental market doesn’t look any better with steep rent hikes.
To restore housing affordability to the market, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach. Ontario, for example, has set a target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031. We need to build at least 150,000 new homes annually, but we built less than 90,000 in 2023 and are nowhere near that target. The number of new homes being built this year is expected to decline even further.
The point, of course, is that we need to get down to business. Time is running out quickly. We need to embrace out-of-the-box thinking and crank up the dial on housing.
Staff review expected by end of year
In cities like Toronto, for example, help is available right under our feet – or should I say our wheels. The city is looking at converting a number of its Green P surface parking lots into sites for housing, which could unlock more than 100 new parcels of property for thousands of new units. Council voted 21-1 recently to have staff review all off-street, municipally-owned parking lots that could serve as future housing sites and identify priorities and timelines by the end of 2024.
All in, there are 130 parking lots with suitable designations. The sites are already designated under the Official Plan as areas for mixed-use structures, neighbourhoods and apartment buildings. Even better, 74 of these lots are near major transit station area zones. Many of these sites could be repurposed to include a mix of grade-level retail, with above-ground parking if needed, and housing on top.
The idea makes so much sense on so many levels. Instead of spending tens of millions of dollars to acquire new land, the City of Toronto can make use of the existing parking lot properties it already owns to boost much-needed housing stock.
Strategy aligns with policy objectives
Financially, allowing the parking lots to be converted to sites for housing makes perfect sense.
Strategically, it’s also the right move.
We are in the midst of a housing crisis, not a parking crisis. Considering the present situation, the land would be better used for housing.
However, presently we are choosing parking over housing. It should be the other way round. The opportunity is being wasted.
As Mayor Olivia Chow noted during council’s discussion on the matter, “The people of Toronto need us to leave no stone unturned when it comes to building desperately needed affordable housing.”
Repurposing parking sites aligns with current planning policy objectives.
For example, the City of Toronto Official Plan gives direction to redevelop surface parking lots on city-owned land. A provincial policy statement in 2020, meantime, also gives direction to identify appropriate locations for transit-supportive development to accommodate a significant supply of housing options through intensification and redevelopment.
City staff stated in a report to council that “the shift away from parking accommodation to housing and community service accommodation at these parking lots could provide a significant pipeline of city-owned lands to meet the city’s housing and other goals.”
All solutions must be on the table
New housing is already taxed to death. The exorbitant taxes, fees, levies and development charges imposed on new residential construction is roughly 31 per cent of the cost of a new build. Effectively repurposing parking lots for housing would make the best use of the city resources.
The supply of land ready for building is a critical issue and has been ignored on so many levels. Along with the excessive taxes, fees and levies that have expanded beyond any real growth in incomes, housing that is affordable has become painfully inaccessible to most people.
It is all taking an incredible toll on the well-being of people. This is not the hallmark of a healthy metropolis. As Coun. Brad Bradford, vice-chair of the city’s planning and housing committee, has so rightly pointed out, a surface parking lot is not always the best use of land.
There is no single solution to the housing crisis that we are facing. However, we must look at all available solutions. Converting parking lots into property that can be used for housing is a start.
Richard Lyall is president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). He has represented the building industry in Ontario since 1991. Contact him at media@rescon.com.
