Rising home prices and a lack of supply is making it difficult for first-time home buyers to get into the market, particularly young people. What would you do to address affordability and how would you make it financially possible for first-time home buyers, or millennials, to purchase their first home?<\/p>\n
That question was posed by all candidates debate moderator and Huntsville\/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kelly Haywood at the Algonquin Theatre on May 17. Haywood was asking the question on behalf of one of the event’s sponsors.<\/p>\n
Miller – PC<\/strong><\/p>\n First up was incumbent MPP and PC candidate Norm Miller who said he believes that a greater supply of housing is required to impact housing costs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to deal with all the various costs involved in developing a new home. You look down in Toronto and in the 905 area it\u2019s like $140,000 just for all the permits and various things. Before you buy any land or build anything, the base cost is roughly $140,000, but that makes for very unaffordable housing, so we need to simplify the regulations so that we can streamline things and get the housing build more inexpensively,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rhodes – Liberal<\/strong><\/p>\n Liberal candidate Brenda Rhodes spoke of the need to put more money into the issue and lauded existing programs in co-operation with the Province. She spoke of an initiative in partnership with the District of Muskoka, which helps first-time home buyers come up with the down-payment to purchase their home.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s not only young people, that\u2019s seniors also. There\u2019s different stipulations on that, that can relate to other people, not just young people. And I think that program\u2019s been very successful and it\u2019s helped hundreds of people get into their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n She also spoke of a rent supplement program. \u201cThat program supports people in rent portions and new regulations came out that make sure that rent cannot go up a certain amount, so we\u2019re not getting pushed out into an open market and rents going up unfairly. It can only jump 1.5 per cent a year [this year it was set at 1.8 per cent by the Province.] That gives people more stability, more knowledge on where their rent is going and to help them out that way,\u201d said Rhodes.<\/p>\n Horvath – NDP<\/strong><\/p>\n NDP candidate Erin Horvath said her party is promising 65,000 new homes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re talking about how, so signing on to the National Housing Strategy, that\u2019ll fund 20,000 units and then the additional 45,000 will come from provincial funding,\u201d she said, adding that the NDP also plans on a one-time-investment of $3 million for co-operative accommodations, an alternative way of housing.<\/p>\n She said the NDP would also work with municipalities \u201cto ensure that there\u2019s an array of options \u2013whether that\u2019s tiny homes, or mid-rises or townhouses or stacked houses\u2026 basically we\u2019re looking to see a variety of different options come to the grassroots.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of the rising price of housing, Horvath said the NDP is also proposing a speculation tax \u201cwhere the market is getting overheated, looking at ways to settle it down for non-residents purchasing homes inside an area and inflating the price. These are a few things that we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Richter – Green<\/strong><\/p>\n Green candidate Matt Richter said housing affordability was a number one issue in 2007 and remained an issue in the 2011 election, as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe solutions are there, they\u2019re there when we go out into the community. I\u2019m really proud of the Unlock Affordable Housing campaign that we ran over the past half year,\u201d he said, adding that input was gathered from mayors in Parry Sound and Huntsville as well as councillors and \u201cthey were all saying the same thing. The solutions are there, we just need the political will from the government. We need to offer the developers the right incentives, the right tools, so that they can get on with building hopefully 20 per cent of all new development to be deemed affordable but the District should not be on the hook for recouping those costs, because they just pass that on to the developer who is then passing it on to the millennial… But the backwards system under the status quo hasn\u2019t worked.”<\/p>\n Mole – Independent<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCost of housing in Ontario is a product of supply and demand,\u201d said Independent candidate Jeff Mole. He questioned Miller\u2019s proposal to reduce the cost of developing housing, saying: \u201cAre those cost savings going to be passed on to the consumer or will the developer just use that to pad their income, their balance sheet and the customer will still pay the market rate of whatever the house is valued at?\u201d<\/p>\n Mole said if he were elected, \u201cI would throw more support behind co-op housing. So a strategic investment by government to create more co-op housing, which would make renting more affordable, which would allow younger people to come to the area and take on those jobs that are available.\u201d<\/p>\n More on that…<\/strong><\/p>\n The candidates were given a chance to follow-up on the issue.<\/p>\n Miller said he agrees with the Federal\/Provincial program that enable first-time home buyers to get into the market. \u201cOne of my kids actually bought their first house with a little assistance from that.<\/p>\n On the affordable housing side, Miller said government simply does not have the money to build the housing that is needed. “They just don\u2019t have the money to build all the needed homes so we have to look at other ways. For rental, having a subsidy is a good way and efficient way of getting people the help that they need. We\u2019re in favour of maintaining rent control but people also need good jobs, so that they can afford to buy a house so we have to work on things like skills development, so that our young people and others have the income so they can afford that new house,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree with you Norm because the Liberals are doing this, that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing,\u201d said Rhodes, referring to the rental subsidy as well as the program for first-time home buyers.<\/p>\n Rhodes also responded to Richter and said, \u201cMatt you said that this was an issue in 2007 and 2011, and you know what, that\u2019s an indication of a strong economy. That\u2019s an economy that\u2019s brightened up and that\u2019s a positive thing.”<\/p>\n In terms of a variety of housing, Rhodes said, “I do agree that we need to look at progressive new ways of providing housing in our communities. That can be any other models that have been raised up here and if elected that would be something that I would like to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n Horvath said the NDP would redesign inclusionary zone regulations \u201cso that they actually do what they\u2019re meant to do and ensure that there\u2019s affordable housing in every development.\u201d<\/p>\n She also spoke of minimum wage. \u201cSo we\u2019ve permitted to put the minimum wage up as is planned because people need to be able to afford life, right, so their hourly wage needs to allow them to work towards home ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n Horvath also noted that at The Hub, a not-for-profit organization created in concert with her husband, \u201cwe are working on a graduated home kind of ownership\/rental option for young entrepreneurs who are trying to set up their business here in Muskoka, but need that support. And we don\u2019t necessarily have to have government support onside but it certainly is much easier. Right now because of the way things are with government we\u2019re working without that support, we\u2019re working with public\/private partnerships \u2013 meaning the not-for-profit and developers to do this, but it would sure be wonderful to have government onside.\u201d<\/p>\n Richter said The Hub\u2019s idea is something he\u2019d be willing to bring to Queen\u2019s Park \u201cand illustrate that here we are working across party lines and let\u2019s implement some of those good ideas coming from other parties and their experiences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In terms of the term \u201caffordable\u201d housing, Richter said: \u201cWe have to move away from the term ‘affordable’ because there\u2019s a stigma around that. We have to recognize that this is about finding appropriate housing, having enough appropriate housing in our area so people can afford to live up here and to work up here.\u201d<\/p>\n Richter said he\u2019s met people in the past two years who were looking to move to Huntsville, some with a starting salary of $55,000 per year but could not find housing. \u201cThis one person ended up moving to the Orangeville area. We actually had a nurse who was looking to relocate to Muskoka, she is now down in the downtown Toronto corridor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mole said finding ways to make strategic investments in housing is important. \u201cIf I were your MPP, I would be willing to work with any of the parties that want to form government that have good ideas on this.\u201d What he would not do, said Mole, is sell off big chunks of public land \u201clike the Liberals did in the Seaton development north of Ajax to enrich private developers. So I think we need a better model and we need to find a way to close that income gap and I think my plan for community economics will close the income gap, which helps make housing more affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n Provincial elections take place June 7, 2018.<\/p>\n