Millennials want to be home owners. Eight in 10 consistently say that home ownership is important to them, real estate is a good investment, and owning a home gives them a sense of pride. But millennials also say that owning a home is more difficult now than it was for their parents. They have a point.

According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, the average price of a GTA home is expected to rise by double digits again this year, hitting a new average of $825,000. Prices keep rising because housing supply is not keeping up with population growth and demand.

To put this into perspective, last December there were only 13,670 new homes available for purchase in the GTA, compared to 30,400 ten years ago, according to the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). Record low supply – only 719 single detached homes were listed on the MLS this past January in Toronto – has created intense bidding wars that make buying a home feel like a highly emotional lottery.

The Canadian dream of home ownership is at risk in the GTA. But the provincial government has an opportunity to do something about it in its upcoming budget, expected next month. Budgets a year out from an election campaign can be particularly pivotal.

Here are five things the government can do to relieve the underlying housing supply crunch that is driving up prices across the GTA:

Fix the “one-size-fits-all” Growth Plan.

Ontario’s proposed amendments to the Growth Plan represent a paradigm shift in how our communities will evolve. The provincial decision to apply a “one-size fits all” approach to growth will impose Toronto-style intensification on more than 100 municipalities. Instead of a blanket provincial preference for high density, give municipalities more flexibility and create more choice in homes for growing families and empty nesters such as family homes and townhomes.

Improve the planning approvals process.

It can take up to 10 years to go through the government approvals process before we build the housing supply needed for our growing population. These unnecessary delays stall housing construction, leaving less housing supply available for people, while contributing to escalating prices.

With better alignment of municipal and provincial housing priorities including requiring updated zoning around transit corridors, we can get new homes to the market quickly in exactly the places where we want them.

Address the “missing middle” of housing supply.

Home buyers increasingly face the choice of living in a high-rise condo or single-family home community. But there is huge opportunity to modernize outdated zoning laws to build the “missing middle” of housing supply in existing communities that are connected to transit and closer to jobs.

This includes innovative solutions like laneway housing and multi-unit homes such as townhouses, stacked flats or mid-rise buildings. These are affordable and attractive options for millennials or empty nesters who would then put their family home onto the market.

Target infrastructure to support new housing supply.

We already have plans for where all the new housing in the GTHA will be located up to 2031 but those designated growth areas don’t become homes until we can obtain local planning approvals and connect to water, sewers and storm water management services. Builders cannot turn over the keys to a new homeowner if you can’t flush the toilet or get your car to the driveway. The province should support new housing supply with targeted infrastructure investments.

Reduce the Toronto land transfer tax.

According to the C.D. Howe Institute, the Toronto land transfer tax negatively affects housing supply because it incents potential home sellers to stay rather than list their property for sale. Instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars to move to a larger home, or downsize as an empty nester, Toronto home owners are simply choosing to renovate or stay put. That means fewer starter homes come onto the market for young couples.

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This is the year for provincial and municipal governments to step up with solutions to ensure that the dream of home ownership does not slip away from future generations.

Tim Hudak is CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association.