Justin, one issue I'm not sure anyone is looking at is the mismatch of what is actually being built versus needs.
In particular, builders of condos and apartments seem stuck in the idea that only young childless singles/couples and empty-nesters want to live in condos and apartments. So condos and apartments are nearly all bachelor, one, …
Justin, one issue I'm not sure anyone is looking at is the mismatch of what is actually being built versus needs.
In particular, builders of condos and apartments seem stuck in the idea that only young childless singles/couples and empty-nesters want to live in condos and apartments. So condos and apartments are nearly all bachelor, one, and two bedroom. Meanwhile, the actual demand for 3 and 4 bedroom condos and apartments is completely neglected.
I've read reports of even Toronto having a glut of small apartments, while the market for larger dwellings is screaming.
Do you see any of the plans on offer having any impact on this failure of the market?
I've been saying this for years. I feel like I've been vindicated recently.
My suspicion has always been that the push for smaller units has been with an eye to maximizing investment potential. A bachelor unit, is an easy parking vehicle for foreign capital (Chinese officials looking to hide money, e.g.) but it's also easy to list for short-term rentals and/or AirBNB. You can, obviously, fit more of these units in a building than if you had lots of 3/4-bdrm units.
I think you've seen this *start* to shift in recent years, but we're still living with the effects of this distorted demand. Toronto's waterfront is littered with terribly-built high-rise condos of 1bdrm condos that *nobody* wants to live in.
Liberalizing where we can build more densely will have an immediate and measurable impact on this. So both the LPC and CPC proposals should solve for this. BCH, if done right, can prioritize these bigger family units and help flood the zone with supply ASAP. But you're totally right to flag this as a *huge* problem.
Justin, one issue I'm not sure anyone is looking at is the mismatch of what is actually being built versus needs.
In particular, builders of condos and apartments seem stuck in the idea that only young childless singles/couples and empty-nesters want to live in condos and apartments. So condos and apartments are nearly all bachelor, one, and two bedroom. Meanwhile, the actual demand for 3 and 4 bedroom condos and apartments is completely neglected.
I've read reports of even Toronto having a glut of small apartments, while the market for larger dwellings is screaming.
Do you see any of the plans on offer having any impact on this failure of the market?
I've been saying this for years. I feel like I've been vindicated recently.
My suspicion has always been that the push for smaller units has been with an eye to maximizing investment potential. A bachelor unit, is an easy parking vehicle for foreign capital (Chinese officials looking to hide money, e.g.) but it's also easy to list for short-term rentals and/or AirBNB. You can, obviously, fit more of these units in a building than if you had lots of 3/4-bdrm units.
I think you've seen this *start* to shift in recent years, but we're still living with the effects of this distorted demand. Toronto's waterfront is littered with terribly-built high-rise condos of 1bdrm condos that *nobody* wants to live in.
Liberalizing where we can build more densely will have an immediate and measurable impact on this. So both the LPC and CPC proposals should solve for this. BCH, if done right, can prioritize these bigger family units and help flood the zone with supply ASAP. But you're totally right to flag this as a *huge* problem.