City council has approved developing an estimated 3,700 “affordable” homes across 11 city properties without rent controls and starting at rents that critics say aren’t really affordable in the midst of an ongoing housing crisis.

In a 22 to 4 vote Wednesday, council signed off on Mayor John Tory’s new Housing Now initiative that will provide public land and other financial incentives to developers or not-for-profits in exchange for a guaranteed percentage of units that would be set at more affordable rents than those climbing across the city.

Ahead of the vote, Tory urged councillors to resist making changes to the plan brought forward by staff after he promised during the 2018 election campaign to build 40,000 new affordable housing units in 12 years.

Adding requirements and restrictions on a program aimed to spur private and non-profit developers to build affordable housing, in a city that desperately needs it, could result in nobody actually bidding for the sites, the mayor warned.

“If you have a Christmas tree that’s standing up and you put too many ornaments on it, it’s going to fall over, eventually,” Tory said.

“Please don’t wreck this (program) or ruin it or diminish its chances of success in advance by layering too many things,” on it that throw out of whack the balance of profit incentives and public good the city’s affordable housing office believes will make Housing Now successful.

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Responding to other concerns on the floor of council, Tory proposed city staff be requested — but not mandated — to give extra weight to bids that include: more affordable units; deeper levels of affordability, ownership or operation of affordable units by non-profits; measures or commitments to tenant protections including rent controls; inclusion of “supportive housing” for people with mental health or addiction issues; and affordable housing for artists. That motion passed with a majority of council support.

Others on council said Toronto’s housing crisis is so urgent they can’t allow sites across the city — many currently parking lots — to be developed with only one-third of units deemed “affordable” and the remainder split between market rent and condo units.

“We need to be bold,” Councillor Mike Layton told council Wednesday morning, “... for those struggling to find housing, those struggling to pay for the housing that they’re in, those underhoused trying to find appropriate sized housing for their families.

“By relying too heavily on profit-driven, private sector we are abdicating our responsibility (as) a government to actually take action.”

The city definition of an “affordable” unit is one that is at or below average market rent — a metric provided by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation based on all currently occupied units. That calculation includes rents for units that have been off the market for several years as well as recently rented units, meaning the average is lower than what is currently available. If a unit is vacated, landlords can raise rents to whatever they want.

In 2019, average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment recorded by CMHC is $1,270. For a two-bedroom unit it is $1,492 and for a three-bedroom it is $1,664.

The Housing Now plan proposed by the city’s affordable housing office would create a bidding process with the aim of creating units with almost one-third rented at below-market rates, from $549 to $1,372 per month depending on the size of unit. Another one-third would be average market rent and the rest would likely be sold as condos.

Layton proposed changes to that plan, including mandating that half of the estimated 10,187 new units that could be built on the sites be 80 per cent of average market rent or better, and of those one-fifth be “deeply affordable,” with rents only 40 per cent of the average for that type of unit.

He noted typical rents around some of the lots to be sold are already at or below 80 per cent of the average market rent, raising the question why the city would be offering incentives — valued at $280 million total for the 11 properties — to private developers.

His motion failed 7 to 19.

At the end of last year, Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government eliminated rent control rules for all new rental units, meaning those built under the Housing Now initiative won’t be protected.

Councillor Josh Matlow requested all units built under the Housing Now plan be subject to city-imposed rent controls, meaning landlords would not be allowed to raise rents higher that provincial guidelines each year.

That motion lost in a 12 to 14 vote. Though the mayor supported Matlow’s request, only one other member of Tory’s hand-picked executive, Councillor Gary Crawford, supported it.

The future of those sites and what gets built there is now in the hands of city staff. A second motion from Matlow for staff to report back before approving the land transactions also failed.

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Councillor Ana Bailao, Tory’s affordable housing advocate, said the Housing Now initiative is just one piece in the city’s overall housing strategy, which is due for a 10-year reboot.

“It will help deliver the much needed affordable housing that we need in our city,” she said, noting the city is making progress despite a lack of support from the provincial and federal governments. “We want a mixture of income, we want a mixture of tenure. That’s how we build good, integrated communities.”

Only about one out of every 100 Toronto rentals was vacant last fall, CMHC says, while average rents were almost 25 per cent above the national average. Homeless shelters in Toronto, meanwhile, are consistently at or near capacity, with advocates decrying conditions and urging council to declare a state of emergency.

That request was again on the council floor Wednesday afternoon.

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering Toronto politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

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