'Ridiculous situation': Housing costs concern southwest Ontarians ahead of election
Shazelle Santana desperately wants to move from her one-bedroom apartment into a larger unit but has been unable to afford more space.
The London, Ont., resident says her seven-year-old son is growing fast and the family needs more room, but the surging cost of rent in the city has made it incredibly difficult to move.
"It's gotten into a ridiculous situation," says the 52-year-old photographer and artist.
"Really, I do need a two-bedroom. In normal times, years and years ago the way it used to be, I would even choose to have a three-bedroom and ... I would have the extra room as a studio."
Santana moved into her building six years ago and pays just under $800 in rent a month. A renovated one-bedroom apartment in her north London building is now being rented for nearly $2,000 monthly, she says.
Soaring real estate prices have also forced her to give up on plans to eventually buy her own home.
"I felt like that was quite feasible, had my goals and plans worked out," she says. "And then in the past few years, I'm sitting here thinking it doesn't matter what I do, I feel like it's gonna be impossible now because of the prices."
The cost of housing, both renting and buying property, is one of the top issues facing residents in this southwestern Ontario city as the provincial election approaches.
The main political parties are all making promises on housing affordability, with the Progressive Conservatives, the New Democrats and the Liberals all promising to build 1.5 million new homes if elected.
The Tory government passed a new law shortly before the election campaign to speed up approvals and other building processes, but critics said it lacked bolder measures such as changing municipal zoning rules to allow more housing to be built aside from single-family homes.
The New Democrats are promising to build 250,000 affordable rental homes operated by public, non-profit and co-op housing providers. They also pledge to bring back rent control and allow first-time buyers with household incomes under $200,000 to access home equity loans of up to 10 per cent of the purchase price.
The Liberals are promising to work with municipalities to expand zoning options, bring back rent control and establish the Ontario Home Building Corporation to finance and build affordable homes.
The Greens say they would build 182,000 permanently affordable community housing rental homes over the next decade, including 60,000 supportive homes.
Shazelle Santana poses by her apartment building in London, Ont., Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Santana says her seven-year-old son is growing fast and the family needs more room but the surging cost of rent in the city has made it incredibly difficult to move. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff RobinsFor Kathleen Brunner, finding affordable housing in London has become a real issue.
She says she's been trying to find a two-bedroom apartment to rent after securing a new job in the city, but five recent trips dedicated to the search for a new home have been unsuccessful.
The 53-year-old woman, who currently lives with her partner in a rented house in Barrie, Ont., says she is now considering moving into a motel or going to live with her 26-year-old daughter so she doesn't lose her new job as a custodians' supervisor at a London hospital.
"I have a job waiting, a good-paying job waiting ... And I don't have a place to move to," she says.
"One place, they said it was $1,095 (a month) ... And then I went to look at it, the guy called me back to give me the address to go look and he says 'oh, it's $1,500."'
Brunner says landlords and their agents have been telling her the rent has gone up recently due to high demand from people moving to the city.
She says she hopes to be able to save enough money to buy a mobile home one day, before she retires, because buying a property is not a feasible option anymore.
"I don't think I'll ever get a real house," she says. "Mobile homes, you can get them for under $200,000."
Michael Haan, an associate professor of sociology at Western University, says housing in London was relatively undervalued compared to other jurisdictions because the economy in the city relied on manufacturing that was not doing well until recently.
That situation has changed, he says.
"People are coming to London with Toronto money, and Montreal money, and we're also starting to increase the number of newcomers that we receive," he says.
Haan says the population increased in London by more than 10 per cent between 2016 and 2021, whereas the housing stock only went up 6.8 per cent.
"This is creating a bit of a perfect storm," he says.
Jared Zaifman, the chief executive officer at London Home Builders' Association, says supply in the city's housing market can't keep up with the increase in the population.
"Over the last five years ... the population growth outpaces the housing supply every year by almost double," he says. "We're kind of reaching a fever point now where there's so much of that demand and that missing supply."
He says there are multiple issues hampering developers' ability to increase the supply of new homes, including backlogs and delays in the development-approval, zoning and subdivision processes.
"This is an area where we know that the province has the ability and a strong capacity to potentially make some legislative changes ... to streamline some of these processes that can take very, very significant amounts of time," he says.
Supply-chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic have also had an impact on homebuilders' capacity to deliver new homes, he says, while the war in Ukraine is also affecting the arrival of some building materials from Europe.
The industry is also concerned about the lack of skilled workers, Zaifman says.
"We experience this every day as an industry, trying to find enough of skilled trades to be able to be on sites. Sometimes you're waiting for weeks to get the appropriate crew over," he says.
"Many retirements are going to be coming over the next number of years. So while we certainly have challenges now, I think there also needs to be a lot of recognition of how we can quickly plan and transition for that future."
Ontario's election is set for June 2.
This report by The Canadian Press was last updated May 29, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israel kills top Hezbollah figure in Beirut strike, Reuters sources say
Top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, two security sources told Reuters.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's will sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
'It's disgusting': Quebec minister reacts after body of boy, 14, found near Hells Angels hideout
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Ontario man to pay $1,500 surcharge after insurer says his SUV is at higher risk of theft
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
DEVELOPING Here's what we know about Israel's latest strike in Beirut
Smoke is rising over Lebanon’s capital of Beirut Friday after Israel’s military struck southern suburbs – a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
BREAKING Four dead in northern Ontario house fire
Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.
Passenger on a previous Titan sub dive says his mission was aborted due to apparent malfunction
A paid passenger on an expedition to the Titanic with the company that owned the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel Friday that the mission he took part in was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
Montreal couple facing deportation to Mexico granted temporary residency
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.