, the report argues that supply is too constrained — and getting even tighter in the rental market — for this to meaningfully slow the affordability crisis.“Even if affordability eventually improves with falling housing prices, the reality is that the key issue underpinning the crisis is insufficient supply to meet high demand for all types of homes,” the report reads.
“As that happens, and especially if projections of cancellations continue to materialize, the supply and affordability challenge will not go away even if the housing market cools for the time being,” the report says. The report then takes aim at expensive development charges, fees, and taxes that builders have to pay to various levels of government. Development charges have been a sore spot for developers, particularly in the Toronto area where awould see them raised nearly 50% by 2024.
A number of experts noted they had already begun to take small steps to make housing more accessible to buyers, including modifying deposit structures on certain units. Another said they were able to increase efficiency and save costs by moving certain engineering and construction activities to happen earlier in the design process.