All the talk of a housing shortage in this country is reminiscent of that saying: everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.
So, the team at RBC Royal Bank decided they’d do something about it and came up with a seven-point strategy to increase the number of houses being built in this country. And, they managed to do it all on a single page. In short, how complex can this be?
Most of their advice is for governments to get out of the way.
The first recommendation is to make it easier for foreigners with construction skills to immigrate by putting them on a priority list and recognizing their credentials.
They want to speed up project approvals by streamlining building codes and easing zoning restrictions. They also recommend municipalities drop development fees for apartments built on public lands.
They see potential in pre-approving home designs and adding more modular construction capacity while incenting owners to get out of the short-term rental game, like AirBnB, by easing rules for secondary suites or conversion of non-residential properties.
