Alberta Strikes Affordable Housing Task Force

[Wooster]

Alberta strikes affordable housing task force
Last Updated: Thursday, February 1, 2007 | 11:50 AM MT
CBC News


The province has struck a task force on affordable housing in Alberta that will look at solutions for homelessness, subsidized rentals and programs to help more Albertans buy homes.

The task force, announced Thursday by Housing Minister Ray Danyluk, will be chaired by Len Webber, MLA for Calgary-Foothills. Members will travel to nine Alberta communities later this month to talk about the issue.

They will publish a final report in March.

Among the 16 members of the task force are MLAs, councillors and representatives of industry associations and the non-profit sector.

Real estate values and rents have soared across the province in recent years, leading to worries Alberta will be less attractive to workers desperately needed to fill labour shortages.

Danyluk's mandate letter from new Premier Ed Stelmach outlined affordable housing as the No. 1 issue Stelmach wanted addressed within the first 45 days of his leadership.

The task force will hold community meetings in Calgary, Edmonton, Elk Point, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Hinton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer from Feb. 16 to 28.

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Link to Gov't of Alberta site:
http://www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/ma_1409.htm

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I'm glad Stelmach is taking direct action on this issue. I hope they come up with some solutions, particularly a workable strategy to house the homeless and other vulnerable populations.

With this and the Municipal Funding, Stelmach is doing a good job addressing urban needs right off the bat.

[Boris2k7]

One more thing for CBC to check off on their list of Stelmach's promises :)

I guess they also never checked off the municipal funding either, but that technically hasn't been delivered yet...

http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/features/premier-stelmach/

[AUM]

Would it be feasible to begin to implement rental caps within the city? Is there a way to control the deline in rental property....control the number of rental properties being converted to condos?.....offer subisidies or incentives to developers to build rental propoerties....rent-to-own....and so on?

I'm gald they are taking this issue seriously....but it will be a matter of implementing something sooner than later.

I do not fall into the homeless or poverty line category. But as a recent grad and paying off student loans....I can definitely say that I am fortunate to be where I am but I can't imagine trying to find a place in the current market and not having a guarantee that it won't be converted to condos soon after. I hope that they can begin to provide more affordable rentals in the city....not everyone has six figure salaraies...;)

[Policy Wonk]

Rent control will just lead to an increase in condo conversions, when rent control is imposed high end rentals are pulled off the market and low end rentals become slums as land-owners reduce maintainence and improvements to the bone.

[Doug]

I can't see any way for government policy or programs to improve housing affordability. Unlike other jurisdictions, the supply of housing in Alberta is not constrained by excessive regulation or community activism unlike say many coastal cities.

[Xelebes]

Quite simply, we just need supply.

[murman]

Would it be feasible to begin to implement rental caps within the city?

Rental caps are a guaranteed disaster. They're a destroyer of rental stock.

[jeffwhit]

Inclusionary Zoning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusionary_zoning)

[Policy Wonk]

It isn't a bad idea, but it is badly abused.

[bob1954]

Allow developers additional FAR ratios, or height on buildings, in exchange for adding a percentage of the project for low or moderate income buyers or renters! In a way this is not subsidizing, you're just dangling a little candy in front of the developers! If a developer is going to build 200 units, 10-15 percent or 20 to 30 units could be for low end housing. At least you don't concentrate all low income housing in one area, which usually is the beginning of a slum!

[Boris2k7]

^ A good idea. I have thought about adding it to our bonusing system as well. However, as others have noted before on this forum, the bonusing system may need some review, as it seem a bit too easy to add, for example, simple (and cheap) street furniture in order to get a hefty density bonus. In the context of affordable housing, 8 or 10 affordable (or perhaps nonmarket) units would probably not be enough in a 300 unit development. Of course, the bonus still has to be a good enough deal for the developer to actually act upon it.

EDIT: I also just checked that link to CBC that I posted and it looks like they updated their list. One more promise fulfilled!

[Greco Roman]

Who exactly would benefit from this initiative? Single parent families, low-income earners; who? I would most likely be starting off at a salary of around 40-50k year, but doubt if I would be able to own a single detached house in any Alberta city the way prices are skyrocketing. Would I benefit from this concept, or would I be forced to rent for the rest of my life?

[newflyer]

Rental caps are a guaranteed disaster. They're a destroyer of rental stock.

I agree.. if you cap rents in this city you'd see a further acceleration of converting rental units to condos. The market system must be allowed to do its thing.

The key is how to expand supply faster than rise in demand... Calgary is pretty well going full out in construction and can't build any faster. The city is really facing a serious problem... which won't see an easy sollution to its housing problems.

Perhaps the city could zone a large area for a massive trailer park and than transort mobile homes for low income housing. This would do two things. 1 add a significant amount of supply in a short amount of time and 2 it won't add to the construction problems of the city.

It may not look pretty.. it could be a possible sollution.

[freeweed]

Heh. I'm picturing a 100,000 resident trailer park between Calgary and Airdrie.

Folks, at the end of the day if things keep up, and the real estate market doesn't crash, Calgary will do one of two things:

1. Just become like Vancouver. No one who earns $40k in Vancouver can afford a detached house there, and I don't see anyone complaining or claiming that Vancouver is "unsustainable". Quite frankly I have no idea how people DO afford to live there, but they somehow manage, and the city is growing all the time. Maybe a Vancouver lurker can comment - is there a huge population of working folk who just never will own anything property-wise?

2. Salaries will rise enough on average that people can afford housing. If NO ONE but the wealthy can afford a place, there will be a mass exodus out of low paying jobs (and maybe out of the city), and salaries will rise to try to attract people back to those jobs. We're seeing this already - what used to be minimum-wage type work now pays $15/hr and up. Toronto used to be like this in a sense - sure it cost a lot to live there, but people in general earned a lot more for the same job than they would in "cheaper" cities. It's balanced out somewhat in the past decade and a half, but there was a time when Toronto jobs paid a LOT.

I know on an individual level it sucks when you look at the prospect of never being able to afford a house/condo - but it won't last forever. The city (and the market) will either balance itself out eventually (:banana:), or we'll just be one of those stupidly-expensive places to live. Doesn't seem to trouble a couple million left-coasters.