What I learned from the TREB and BILD poll results

October is here and everyone’s talking about the municipal election. In order to stress the importance of addressing housing affordability, I’m highlighting a few findings from the recent Ipsos polls commissioned by the Building Industry and Land Development Association and the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Cost of housing is a top issue in the election

When it comes to the cost of housing, 40% of Greater Toronto Area residents say that it is among their top three issues in the municipal election. Crime and infrastructure were the other issues in the top three.

Personally, I thought this number would be higher. It’s no secret that the GTA is in need of more affordable housing. I’m curious what other election issues would replace housing in that top three list.

The NIMBY challenge is real

This one really threw me for a loop. A whopping 87% of GTA residents believe building new homes is important when it comes to addressing housing affordability, but a scary amount of people oppose new development within half a kilometre of their own home.

Nearly 60% of GTA residents oppose a high-rise condo being built within half a kilometre of their home. When it comes to stacked townhomes, 44% are opposed, and even 30% are opposed to new detached homes being built within half a kilometre of where they live. This is troubling to me. If we’re truly going to address housing affordability, we need to be comfortable with new neighbours.  

Land transfer taxes impacting supply

Land transfer taxes can amount to tens of thousands of dollars that you owe at the time of closing. There’s a provincial land transfer tax that everyone pays, and then Toronto even has its own on top of that. TREB cited another study that found that the Toronto land transfer tax was directly responsible for housing supply shortage by 16%.

People are actually putting off moving because the taxes to do so are so high. And I’ve heard talk of introducing new land transfer taxes in other municipalities in the GTA. TREB found that 75% of residents outside of Toronto oppose the new tax.

Our children and grandchildren are concerned about affordability

My kids are old enough to have families and own property, but when it comes time for their kids to buy a home, I’m worried about the market they’ll come up against. I definitely fit into the 80% of people aged 55 and over who are concerned about today’s youth affording a home in the future.

In order for younger generations to feel like they can own a home in the GTA one day, we need to ensure the taxes are fair and new home supply can hit the market in a more streamlined fashion.