The County of Simcoe’s Housing Attainable Supply Action Plan — known as Housing ASAP for short — is honing in on five key items staff believe should be focused on right away, or at least in the next five years.
The recommendation categories include the creation of what’s called a development navigator program, as well as co-ordination, innovation, financial and advocacy initiatives, Nathan Westendorp, director of planning and chief planner, explained during a lengthy presentation at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting.
The recommended actions focus on supply and affordability of housing options in what’s often referred to as the missing middle, or what officials called “attainable” housing. This includes below-market rental/ownership housing, market rental housing and market home ownership.
The purpose of the project was to answer three questions, said Westendorp, and included determining what was considered attainable and how the county can work with builders and developers to bring forward homes in a growing county that are more affordable for working people.
“When we talk about that threshold of affordability (and) that attainable lens, it’s the 80 to 120 per cent of average income or average market,” he said.
For the county as a whole, that would mean an “attainable” home purchase in the range of $330,000 to $450,000 or rents between $1,350 and $1,950 per month.
Question 2 was determining what’s needed, Westendorp added: “What are we missing when we look at the housing stock when it comes to what is for sale or rent? We are at the threshold of planning for even more growth (by) 2051, so how can we flavour that to make sure it’s hitting the right mark?”
The third piece, he said, was determining how the county can help, adding there is currently a lot of “flux” in the state of housing. This new initiative is looking at the process, planning and supply.
“When we look at Simcoe County, we have over 20,000 units that are approved in the planning process. They are either registered and ready to go … or they are draft approved with conditions that are being fulfilled,” said Westendorp.
There are another 15,000 units currently under application, he added.
“That’s a lot of units that are in the system. In Simcoe County, we have sufficient supply. Could we use more to help make an improvement in the market? Our planning processes will reveal that,” he said. “The goal is to figure out how best the county can help and get regulatory systems in place that give the public confidence in the planning system.”
The fact residents cannot afford a home in the region for more than $329,000 to $350,000 is “sad,” said Clearview Deputy Mayor Paul Van Staveren.
“It’s a tough time for a lot of people,” he said.
The biggest barrier to attainable housing is servicing, noted Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin.
“Attainable requires density and density requires full service,” she said.
Westendorp agreed. He said a plan for housing without the pipes in the ground is just a dream until that infrastructure is delivered.
“We are ready and remain ready to help our local municipalities in doing that advanced planning. The best thing any municipality in Ontario can do is to, alongside their growth planning, be doing detailed and integrated infrastructure planning. I know many of you are doing that, which is great. That integration is key,” he said.
“One of the most unfortunate things we could do is draw lines on a map in an official plan but not know how to service it. We are ready and available to help in that regard and happy to have conversations around that. It used to be that planning followed the highways. Now, it is planning follows the pipes.”