A new report claims the initiative is hurting the rental housing supply
Ontario Housing Minister Peter Milczyn has come to the defense of the province’s Federal Housing Plan, amid criticism that the initiative’s cap on annual rent hikes is reducing the rental housing supply.
There were 28,000 rental units in the planning when the legislation as introduced last April, The Canadian Press reported. At least 1,000 of those units have either been shelved or converted to condominiums since then, according to a study by the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario released last Monday.
"The status quo of the previous rental control program wasn't generating very many rental units either," Milczyn told Metro Morning on Tuesday. "So I'm listening to the industry. We're monitoring what's going on, but the reality is, over a number of decades, about six per cent of the housing built was purpose-built rentals."
According to the study, demand for renting purpose-built and condominium apartments in Ontario is projected to average 34,000 units annually in the coming decade, leaving a supply shortfall of over 6,000 units per year under the baseline development outlook.
If rental construction does not immediately double at current levels, further declines in vacancy and intense competition for available units are expected. “The delayed increase in required rental development to offset demand could result in an annual supply gap reaching over 10,000 units within 10 years. Without any changes in the supply outlook, a cumulative deficit of 62,500 rental units is expected to be amassed in the coming decade,” it added.
The province is not keen on changing the rent hike caps. “I am listening to the industry, monitoring the situation, but we’re taking our action, which was to ensure there’s fair rental policies for tenants and releasing surplus provincial lands to build more rental supply,” Milczyn said.
There were 28,000 rental units in the planning when the legislation as introduced last April, The Canadian Press reported. At least 1,000 of those units have either been shelved or converted to condominiums since then, according to a study by the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario released last Monday.
"The status quo of the previous rental control program wasn't generating very many rental units either," Milczyn told Metro Morning on Tuesday. "So I'm listening to the industry. We're monitoring what's going on, but the reality is, over a number of decades, about six per cent of the housing built was purpose-built rentals."
According to the study, demand for renting purpose-built and condominium apartments in Ontario is projected to average 34,000 units annually in the coming decade, leaving a supply shortfall of over 6,000 units per year under the baseline development outlook.
If rental construction does not immediately double at current levels, further declines in vacancy and intense competition for available units are expected. “The delayed increase in required rental development to offset demand could result in an annual supply gap reaching over 10,000 units within 10 years. Without any changes in the supply outlook, a cumulative deficit of 62,500 rental units is expected to be amassed in the coming decade,” it added.
The province is not keen on changing the rent hike caps. “I am listening to the industry, monitoring the situation, but we’re taking our action, which was to ensure there’s fair rental policies for tenants and releasing surplus provincial lands to build more rental supply,” Milczyn said.
