Province wants Milton to build 21,000 homes by 2031 with up to 3 units per property allowed
Published October 26, 2022 at 3:57 pm
In a plan to increase housing across Ontario, the province wants Milton to build 21,000 housing units by 2031.
Ontario suffers from an undersupply of housing, provincial officials said in a press technical briefing on Tuesday (Oct. 25). The briefing outlined the province’s plan to increase housing development.
The lack of housing is one of the factors behind skyrocketing prices. In the last decade the price of a home has risen more than double the rate of household incomes.
In a bid to tackle this issue, the province introduced a plan called More Homes Built Faster to bring more housing to Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Niagara Region, Durham Region and communities across the province. In total, 29 cities and towns have housing targets for 2031.
The 29 communities are Ontario’s fastest-growing municipalities.
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These targets would help the Progressive Conservatives meet its goal to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years. To achieve this goal, the government is proposing some new initiatives.
One of the ways to achieve this is to increase “missing middle” housing.
The new legislation would allow up to three residential units on lots without requiring a zoning by-law amendment. This would allow homeowners to add basement apartments and garden suites.
These units would be exempt from development charges and municipalities wouldn’t be able to set minimum unit sizes that might limit the implementation of this policy. Home owners would still need building permits.
This legislation would apply to communities across the province.
There is also a plan to reduce fees and taxes, and speed up development approval rates. They want to reduce parkland requirements for higher density residential developments in order to “reduce costs for new condominiums and apartment buildings.”
In municipalities where there is a lower and upper tier levels of government, such as the Region of Halton, the focus will be on the lower tier (Milton). The land use and approvals would be the responsibility of the lower tier.
There will be fewer public meetings on new developments. Currently, public meetings are required for every plan of subdivision. These meetings would now be optional.
In an interview this week, Milton Mayor Gordon Krantz said he is aware the province’s proposed new legislation on housing.
“I probably will embrace and some of them (plans) and I may not be totally enthused about some of them,” he said.
The Progressive Conservatives tabled the new bill on Oct. 25.
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