Ever since the cost of housing began to rise raster than incomes in this country, the subjects of affordability and availability have grown in importance.
More and more people are forced to accept that they will always be renters with no capacity to ever become a homeowner which is the primary source of wealth generation for the average person in this country. In short, we are watching the wealth gap grow in real time.
One of the critical factors in driving up the cost of a new home is development fees, levies applied by local government on new developments.
While they have become part of the fabric, they have also grown significantly: in some cases, accounting for a quarter of the purchase price of a new home, the equivalent of a substantial downpayment.
The latest to add their voice to the issue is the CD Howe Institute which has joined a growing chorus saying – the time has come to phase out the development fee as a deterrent to new home construction.
