(AGENPARL) – gio 06 aprile 2023 [Ontario Logo]
NEWS RELEASE
Ontario Introduces Next Steps to Support Housing Supply Growth
Further action will ensure province is ready to build more homes as market conditions improve
April 06, 2023
If passed, the proposed changes would further strengthen homebuyer protections, support tenants and streamline the rules around land-use planning.
The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Plan includes:
– A $6.5 million investment to appoint an additional 40 adjudicators and hire five staff to improve service standards and continue to reduce active applications and decision timeframes at the Landlord and Tenant Board. This increase more than doubles of the number of full-time adjudicators at the Landlord Tenant Board.
– Further strengthening protections against evictions due to renovations, demolitions and conversions, as well as those for landlord’s own use, as well as clarify tenants’ rights to install air conditioners.
– Expanding deposit insurance for First Home Savings Accounts to Ontario at credit unions, and exploring a cooling-off or cancellation period on purchases of newly built freehold homes, as well as mandatory legal review of purchase agreements for all new home purchases.
– Freezing 74 different provincial fees at the 2023-2024 level. This includes fees that directly or indirectly increase the cost of housing.
“Our government has been steadfastly focused on Ontario’s housing supply crisis since the moment we first took office,” said Nina Tangri, Associate Minister of Housing. “We have introduced policies that are helping to get more homes built across Ontario, but we know more needs to be done. Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to ensure that Ontario’s housing supply continues to grow over the long term, so more Ontarians can find a home they can actually afford.”
The government continues to work with municipal partners to ensure that cities, towns and rural communities grow with a mix of ownership and rental housing that meets the needs of people across the province.
Quick Facts
– In 2022, Ontario saw the second highest number of housing starts since 1988, with just over 96,000 new homes. This is 30 per cent higher than the annual average for the past 20 years. Ontario also broke ground on nearly 15,000 new purpose-built rentals, the highest number on record.
– Ontario will continue to call on the federal government to defer the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on all new large scale purpose-built rental housing projects to tackle the ongoing housing affordability crisis. Ontario would support this measure, as it would help spur the construction of more rental housing units while helping to create jobs, encourage economic development and support growth.
– The province is continuing the process of launching third-party audits of select municipalities to get a factual understanding of their finances, including their reserve funds and development charge administration, as part of its commitment to ensure there should be no funding shortfall for housing enabling infrastructure as a result of the More Homes Built Faster Act, provided municipalities achieve and exceed their housing pledge levels and growth targets.
Additional Resources
Media Contacts
Victoria Podbielski
Minister’s Office
Conrad Spezowka
Communications Branch
We have recently updated Ontario Newsroom Subscription. You may receive additional emails. If you would like to update your subscription preferences or unsubscribe, click the ‘manage your subscriptions’ or ‘unsubscribe’ links down below.