The City of Burlington is looking to kickstart residential construction in a stalled market, aiming to be the first municipality in Ontario to temporarily waive residential development charges.
If this initiative goes ahead, it would remove these fees for two years, hopefully encouraging developers to take on new projects.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed-Ward mentioned that the city has only seen seven housing starts so far this year.
There aren’t many cranes visible in Burlington’s skyline. A condo project on Fairview Street is currently under construction, but it was sold three years ago, and now no new buildings are going up.
“In fact we just had a condo project on Appleby Line cancelled; they don’t have the buyers, they can’t make it work,” the mayor stated.
The City of Burlington is now moving forward with plans to temporarily eliminate residential development charges for a two-year span in an effort to boost building activity.
The group working on the Fairview Street project noted that this is the first time in their 60-year history that they have no new projects lined up. Typically, about thirty percent of a home’s total price comes from taxes and fees.
“There are no sales happening right now; we need consumer confidence back now in a big way, and we need all three levels of government to step up immediately,” Vince Molinaro from the Molinaro Group said.
If approved by council, Burlington will be the first city in Ontario to suspend all development fees for residential construction temporarily.
<p“Right now there are virtually no sales happening in Burlington and Southern Ontario, and housing starts have fallen off a cliff. So this is less about home builders and more about thousands of people employed in this sector,” said Michael Collins-Williams, chief executive officer of the West End Home Builders’ Association.
Last year, the City of Burlington collected $6.9 million in development fees. The mayor believes they will rely on provincial and federal governments to cover any shortfall resulting from this move.
“We are not in normal times; we are in a crisis and we have to behave that way,” remarked the mayor.
CHCH News reached out to provincial officials regarding potential plans to compensate for funds that Burlington might lose but did not receive a response before our deadline.
Burlington City Council is set to vote on this proposal next week.
: Brantford high school temporarily placed under lockdown following threat
Source link
Source link
