First-time homebuyers and seniors downsizing would not pay the land-transfer tax under a $3.6 billion Liberal plan to make housing more affordable amid a crisis that has seen prices and rents skyrocket.
Non-profit homebuilders would be exempt as well, party leader Bonnie Crombie said Wednesday as politicians at Queen’s Park prepare for a possible early election next year.
The savings would amount to an average of $13,500 for new home buyers and seniors selling and moving to smaller accommodations to free up family-sized homes, she added, taking aim at what the housing shortage “disaster” under Premier Doug Ford that has also seen encampments sprouting up in parks.
“Housing is one of the most stressful issues people are facing right now … under Doug Ford’s government, the Ontario dream of buying a home has slipped further away,” Crombie said in Mississauga.
“Young people are delaying their milestones like getting married or having children because they can’t afford a home,” she added. “The system is broken.”
The Liberal plan would also scrap development charges on new housing, cutting costs by up to $170,000 on family-sized homes of 3,000 square feet or less, and provide funding to municipalities to cover infrastructure costs like sewer and water lines.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra, in charge of the government’s plan to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031, said development charges soared when Crombie was mayor of Mississauga and questioned whether her infrastructure support would be enough.
“We have heard constantly from homebuilders and from communities across the province of Ontario that they need investments in sewer and water if they’re going to be able to get shovels in the ground faster,” Calandra said at the legislature.
A spike in interest rates over the last couple of years, which are now falling, and other factors have put the government dangerously behind the pace needed to meet its housing target. For example, this year’s target is 125,000 new homes but the government is forecasting just 81,300.
Crombie also promised a “phased-in” rent control plan, resources to clear a backlog of disputes before the Landlord Tenant Board and an emergency-support fund for tenants to provide short-term, interest-free loans for renters facing financial emergencies that could otherwise result in evictions.
