In order for Canada to overcome the housing affordability crisis, individuals, families, the real estate industry and government all need to work together.
The pandemic has seen more and more full-time employees working fully remotely – and seeking out cheaper, warmer places in which to do so. Property price hikes show the impact on local communities.
One in five young adults live in unaffordable housing and spend 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs.
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Young adults are among the groups most adversely affected by the housing crisis. Foreign-born young adults, in particular, are disproportionately more likely to live in unaffordable housing.
A poster highlighting rising rental costs due to gentrification in Hackney, London. Gentrification often results in the dislocation of marginalized communities who can no longer afford to live in their communities.
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Gentrification is often used to describe the economic impacts of urban development. However, racialized communities in particular disproportionately feel its detrimental impacts.
Rent assistance can ease rental stress, but it won’t help low-income earners find secure and affordable housing when it’s in such short supply, nor stop disadvantage being concentrated in some areas.
Brisbane rents are up nearly 50% more than the national average and homelessness in Queensland is increasing at the fastest rate in the country. The state can take several steps to turn things around.
Australia is very ‘light touch’ when it comes to regulating Airbnb. The current housing crisis demands a new approach, informed by overseas success stories.
Since the 1980s, Australia’s housing market has become a ‘closed shop’ that expands the wealth of existing home owners and investors. Alison Pennington traces the changes – and suggests another way.
As Australians struggle to find affordable housing, there have been hostile responses to reports of a sudden influx of international students from China. It’s time for a reality check.
When land is publicly owned, it can be used to build the kind of housing the market is unwilling, or unable, to build.
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In a housing crisis, publicly owned land should never be sold to private developers and should instead be used to build the kind of housing the market is unwilling and unable to build.
A new act in Canada bans non-citizens, non-permanent residents and foreign commercial enterprises from buying Canadian residential properties.
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Since foreign owners only represent a tiny segment of the housing market, it’s unlikely that Canada’s new ban on foreign homebuyers will make homes more affordable for Canadians.
Universities and colleges that seek to grow their student enrolments have an obligation to address student housing.
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Governments and universities have failed to prepare for an increase in housing demand amid planned enrolment growth in higher education and a crisis driven by treating housing as an investment.
Although a recession is likely on the horizon, it’s uncertain how deep it might go.
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Improving access to affordable housing and increasing benefit assistance rates are some sustainable solutions to the chronic cycle of homelessness faced by women fleeing violence.
Bill 23 proposes to eliminate or weaken many housing development regulations including site plan controls, which keep us and our natural environment safe from the negative effects of poorly controlled development.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Poorly regulated housing is leading to more greenhouse gas emissions through energy loss, increased energy requirements and greater exposure to weather extremes.
The government’s response to the housing crisis has been to build more homes.
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Sustainable urban development experts increasingly point to cohousing as a solution to the housing crisis. If governments are on board, it can work.
Tents line the sidewalk on East Hastings Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Cities like Vancouver should not clear encampments when people have nowhere else to go.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Cities are clearing homeless encampments, sometimes violently, without providing those who live there any alternatives. Long-term solutions are needed to help people off the streets.