The More Homes Built Faster Act has been approved and will support the government's efforts to tackle the housing supply crisis and get 1.5 million homes built over the next 10 years. This will remove unnecessary costs and cuts through the red tape and other bottlenecks that stand in the way of new homes being built.
Key actions of this plan include the following:
- Freezing and reducing government fees to support the construction of new homes and reduce the costs of housing, particularly affordable and not-for-profit housing, inclusionary zoning units and purpose-built rentals.
- Creating a new attainable housing program to drive the development of housing across all regions of Ontario.
- Increase the non-Resident Speculation Tax rate to 25 per cent - the highest level in Canada - effective October 25, 2022, to deter non-resident investors from speculating on the province's housing market.
- Protecting new home buyers by increasing consumer protection measures and consulting on ways to help more renters become homeowners.
According to News Ontario, the plan also supports the development of "gentle density," which will create more rental housing while minimizing the impact on existing neighborhoods. These changes will give most urban residential property owners the right to build up to three units on their land - including a basement apartment or a laneway home - without lengthy planning approvals or development charges.
Ontario is expected to grow by more than two million people by 2031, with approximately 2.5 million of those new residents expected to settle in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region.
Storeys reports that Bill 23 is intended to facilitate housing development. But critics say it will leave municipalities high and dry billion of dollars, diminish the much-needed role of conservation authorities, and increase property taxes.
The Bill allows multiple units as of right on all residential lots, cuts development fees, and bars residents or environmental groups from appealing a development to the Ontario Land Tribunal. While these are all major wins for developers, they may be the only ones that are happy with this bill.
At the centre of the controversy on the municipality front is that Bill 23 allows for freezing, reducing, or eliminating fees paid by developers. These fees provide much-needed dollars to municipalities for the support of infrastructure, community centres, parks and new homes. It also makes a move backwards in the eyes of many, given the fragile state of the environment - the bill also problematically limits the areas conservations authorities can consider in development permissions, removing factors like pollution and land conservation.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says the changes could leave municipalities short $5 billion. It will be up to taxpayers to foot the bill, either in the form of higher property taxes or service cuts. There is nothing in the bill that would guarantee improved housing affordability.
Despite mounting backlash, the Province is currently undergoing a 30-day consultation process in an attempt to move forward with a plan to remove 7,400 acres of land from the so-called protected Greenbelt to facilitate the growth of over 9,000 homes. As a consolation, the government said it would add 9,400 acres to the Greenbelt land. Construction on the land would begin no later than 2025.
