The government has made housing a federal policy priority after a decade of neglect. But the scale of the housing crisis means its actions to date are just a start – much more must be done.
Until now, planning and housing regulations have stood in the way of using tiny houses as permanent homes. That’s starting to change as councils look for solutions to the housing crisis.
Most flats in England are owned under leaseholds.
Shutterstock
Removing local authorities’ ability to oversee how the built environment changes will not solve the housing crisis. In fact, it might make inequality worse.
A man walks past graffiti that reads ‘Rent Strike.’ Last week, hundreds of tenants in Toronto organized what they are calling the largest rent strike in the city’s history.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Other states may well follow Victoria’s lead, but the 7.5% levy is likely to have a very modest impact on rental housing supply. There’s much more governments could do.
Bypassing planning regulations is likely to have impacts on social inequity and wellbeing that could prove very costly for both governments and people.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a reversal of his government’s decision to open parts of the Greenbelt to developers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tara Walton
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s plan to allow developers to build projects on parts of the Greenbelt was under the auspices of providing additional housing. But it would never have been affordable.
International students frequently face challenges finding suitable places to live. Instead of blaming them, the government should be helping them.
As July temperatures soared to triple digits, hundreds of homeless people lived on the street outside Phoenix’s largest shelter.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
As US cities struggle to reduce homelessness, two scholars explain how planners can reform shelter design to be more humane and to prioritize mental health and well-being.
In agreeing to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund bill the Greens have got a lot of what they wanted. Their idea of funding building and Labor’s idea of subsidising rent aren’t that far apart.
Digital nomad programs have proliferated in recent years. Now, Canada is seeking to use the idea to attract highly skilled tech workers.
(Shutterstock)
The Canadian government wants to attract digital nomads to come to Canada. However, to be successful the program requires clarity on issues like tax and social benefits.
Researchers examined 15 Ontario municipalities with a major university campus, and found only one (Waterloo) had adopted plans designed to accommodate student housing near the campus. Student-oriented housing under construction in Waterloo, Ont., in 2016.
(Evelyn Hofmann)
Local governments have far too often been let off the hook for approaches that discreetly limit where students may live.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to journalists at the Ontario legislature in Toronto in August 2023, amid the growing Greenbelt scandal.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
The Greenbelt scandal is among the most serious of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s years in office. So why is he pressuring developers to accelerate construction on Greenbelt lands?
After months of stalling, the Greens agreed to pass the legislation through the Senate this week, despite the government refusing to give ground on its demand for controls on rents.
COVID-19 halted immigration and housing affordability got much worse. We’d feel the impacts of internal migration and undersupply of affordable housing even if we again blocked migrants from overseas.
We can construct buildings that reduce atmospheric CO₂ by more than their lifetime emissions. They now don’t cost much more – and a project involving 1.2 million homes would drive costs down further.