Latest news with #developmentcharges
CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
City of Guelph rules developer working on student housing project must pay charges
A building at 601 Scottsdale Drive in Guelph, Ont. was photographed on May 8, 2025. (Jeff Pickel/CTV News) Guelph City Council is standing firm on their decision that a developer working on a student housing project in the city must pay development charges. Forum Asset Management is on phase two of the project at 601 Scottdale Drive in Guelph. During phase one, the former Holiday Inn hotel was converted into 177 units for student housing. The land is owned by the University of Guelph and the lease stipulates that the rooms are for university students, but the buildings will not be owned or operated by the school. According to both the City of Guelph and the developer, no development charges were levied during the first phase of the project. The city, however, took a different approach for phase two. They decided the developer would be on the hook for $15 million in development charges going forward. Earlier this month, the developer said that would make the project 'economically unviable' without raising costs for students and delay the start of construction. In a news release on Friday, the city doubled down on its decision. They said council found the developer was responsible for those development charges. The release comes after council reviewed a complaint by Forum Asset Management. They ultimately dismissed the complaint and decided the rental units were not exempt from development charges. An official Notice of Decision was sent to Forum on Thursday. 'Forum Asset Management can still get a full exemption from development charges if they rent the units at, or below, the province's affordable rental threshold for Guelph for 25 years,' the release from the city stated. The developer now has until July 8 to file an appeal with the Ontario Land Tribunal. CTV News reached out to Forum for comment but they have not yet responded to the request.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
How lowering costs for developers could save you money on your next home
Ontario wants to change the rules around development charges, but will it help Toronto's housing crisis? CBC's Chris Glover digs into the data — and speaks to developers and officials to find out.
National Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Who pays more for infrastructure and services in the GTA — the new home buyer or average ratepayer?
Throughout the federal election campaign — and as I have written about in previous columns, the negative impacts of sky-high development charges (DCs) on housing supply and affordability in the GTA featured prominently. In our region, these fees, which are rolled into the cost of new homes and passed on to new home buyers, are not just the highest in Canada, but in North America. Article content Article content Article content As municipalities grow, there is no denying the need for more infrastructure, however, it is well past time for a meaningful discussion on who pays for what and to find alternative ways to fund growth-related costs. Only so much can be borne by new home buyers and with the current DC rates in the GTA, they are shouldering a disproportionate amount. Article content The development charge system in Ontario has existed for more than 30 years. DCs are levied by municipalities on all types of development, including new homes, to offset the cost of roads, transit, emergency, water, sewer, and other services. What began as a small charge in the late 1990s has ballooned to more than $125,000 on a new single-family home in many GTA municipalities. DCs, by design, serve a useful purpose in establishing housing-supportive infrastructure, but now too much cost is being shifted to the new home buyer, thereby undermining affordability, and distorting the type and supply of new housing coming to market. Article content To illustrate who pays for what and how much, I would like to compare what an average tax ratepayer contributed to on an annual basis to what the buyer of a new, single-family home in the City of Toronto paid for based on the 2024 budget and current DC rates. Of note, once a new home is occupied, the new home buyer joins the ranks of the ratepayer and continues contributing through annual property taxes. Article content Article content One caveat: this is not intended to single out the City of Toronto, as similar patterns can be found in municipalities across the GTA. The city is referenced here solely for its accessible and transparent information, which deserves praise. Also of note is the City of Toronto's recent decision to forgo annual indexing (increasing) of its DCs, which is also a measure that is appreciated. Article content In the City of Toronto, based on the 2024 budget, property taxes on the average home were $3,904. Since the property average includes both houses and apartments, to allow for a more complete apples to apples comparison, we will also blend the DC rates. In Toronto, a new, single-family home draws $137,846 in DCs, a two-bedroom apartment: $80,690, and a one-bedroom and bachelor: $52,676. This yields an average DC based on a blended product type of $90,404. Article content In terms of public transportation, a new home buyer (based on the blended product type) paid $2,875 toward the Spadina subway extension — regardless of the home's proximity to the transit corridor and whether its owner used that line. Additionally, the average home buyer paid another $34,877 for public transit. Conversely, the average ratepayer paid $542 toward transit. The $34,877 is equivalent to what a typical ratepayer would pay in 64 years through taxes; equivalent to 10,411 Toronto Transit Commission fares of $3.35 or equal to riding the TTC once a day for 28.5 years.
CBC
14-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ottawa home builders 'very happy' with promised development charges reform
New provincial legislation to streamline development charges is being welcomed by home builders in Ottawa as well as some city councillors. Some have questioned how the infrastructure costs will be covered, however. On Monday, Ontario's housing minister Rob Flack introduced Bill 17, which aims to accelerate permit issuance and streamline zoning rules. The legislation will also defer the collection of development charges until occupancy, which the province says will provide greater cash flow flexibility. That last component is welcomed by Jason Burggraaf, the executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association. Development charges can add up to $65,000 for a single family home outside the greenbelt in Ottawa, he said. "This set of reforms, I think, is a little bolder than sort of the incrementalism that we've had in the in the past few years," he told CBC. Burggraaf added that the legislation could help attract home builders to the city, as he said friction in the development approvals process has caused them to prefer communities like Arnprior or Carleton Place. "It is in fact losing ground to new residents overall, especially the communities that are just outside its borders because it's easier to operate there. So one of the things I see the government doing with this legislation is kind of levelling the playing field," he said. 'The municipality still needs to pay for those things' Development charges have been a longstanding issue between home builders and the city, with the latter saying that the the charges are needed to cover the cost of building infrastructure to service new residents. The province also announced it is pledging $400 million over the next four years to help municipalities build the needed water and sewer infrastructure around developments. Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper said he's happy with what the province is proposing as it doesn't outright remove development charges and shift the cost to the tax base. But he said he wonderers if it will be enough to make a significant difference in housing numbers. "Certainly it's something that the developers have been seeking. I'll be looking for the guidance which will be coming from our staff in a relatively short term to understand what the implications are," he told CBC on Tuesday. Others still wonder how the cost of the infrastructure will be covered under the new legislation if not through development charges. "I often say to the development community, if you want to advocate for lower development charges, you need to come and advocate for an alternative source of funding," Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster told CBC. Kaite Burkholder Harris, the executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, said the $400 million pledged by the province to cover the cost of water and sewer infrastructure around developments is likely to mean less than a million per municipality. "That's the piece of math that I don't think makes a ton of sense," she told CBC. "At the end of the day, the municipality still needs to pay for those things. And so where is that money coming from?"
