Do Housing Accelerator Funds Work?
Published on 29 August 2022, 07:22:56 AM
Interest rates are rising and mid-priced housing is hard to find – no wonder Ontario home buyers are clamoring for government housing accelerator funds.
Housing accelerator funds can ratchet the cost of housing downward. That’s welcome relief for “the missing middle” home buyers: Ontarians looking for semi-detached, multi-unit homes or stacked condos to keep their housing costs below the million dollar mark. See missing middle housing types.
The Canadian Housing Accelerator Fund could be that strategy. By aiming to deliver affordable housing more quickly, the fund could get Ontarians into a home sooner.
Housing for Middle-Income Ontarians
Making too much to qualify for subsidized rental housing? You’re in good company. Even with CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) first-time home buyer initiatives or shared equity mortgages, affording an entry-level condo, rowhouse, or townhouse can be a struggle.
CMHC’s Housing Accelerator Fund will speed up how housing is designed, and when it’s ready. A $4 billion investment in 100,000 new middle class homes by 2024-25, the Housing Accelerator Fund will allow Ontario municipalities to build faster and be more innovative.
Buying a condo – new construction or resale, how to choose.
What Canada’s New Housing Accelerator Fund Will Look Like
Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund was announced during the 2021 federal election campaign. The Liberal party platform builds on the federal National Housing Strategy. Details are sparse for now, probably because CMHC is still collecting ideas from municipalities, housing providers, funders, and the public on how to make the federal Housing Accelerator Fund work.
What we do know about the revitalized National Housing Strategy is this:
Use It or Lose It
The federal government will tap vacant or underused urban land for housing. Besides the Housing Accelerator Fund, government will spend $600 million in 2021/22 to convert empty federal, retail, and office spaces to market rentals.
Buying a rental property in Ontario.
Quick Permits
E-permitting is on the table to keep municipal building applications moving. Shorter approval times will allow municipalities to convert buildings to housing sooner.
Flex Funding
Federal funding will flex based on what municipalities need. That could mean hiring urban planners, purchasing land, or building more infrastructure.
Five Ways the Strategy Will Benefit You
- Increased housing density
- Inclusionary zoning bylaws
- Anti-NIMBYism (not in my backyard) campaigns
- Transit-oriented housing hubs
- Reduced red tape.
First-time home buyer? Here’s what to look for. See transit-oriented housing hubs in the GTA.
Do Housing Accelerator Funds Work?
Three very different Housing Accelerator Fund projects prove they do.
Home for Good, San Francisco
San Francisco residents are home for good in a trendy, 203-unit high rise in upscale SoMA. The downtown Housing Accelerator Fund project mixes middle-income earners with low-wage workers and seniors. Built on underutilized land developed by a local nonprofit organization, Home for Good was funded with a repayable loan “donated” by local philanthropists.
Being your own lender with a RRSP mortgage loan.
San Francisco’s Housing Accelerator Fund uses donor loans, factory-built units, or single room only and apartment conversions to create housing cheaper and faster. Projects can be erected, or rehabbed and converted, and ready to occupy in far less time than the usual three to five years. Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund will do something similar.
Aspen and Alder, Vancouver
Eclectic Mount Pleasant would be unaffordable for most middle-income Vancouverites. Aspen and Alder, two below market rent apartment buildings made possible by Vancity’s Housing Accelerator Fund, have changed all that. Seventy per cent of Aspen’s and Alder’s units are rented for below average rents through a partnership between the credit union, CMHC, the developer, and municipality. Vancity’s share was $3.5 million in pre-development and pre-equity financing for the 264-unit nonprofit housing project.
How to get in on buying an investment property in Ontario.
ShelterTech, Chennai, India
A 3D-printed, 600-square-foot home built in just five days shows the power of innovation. The Habitat for Humanity-funded ShelterTech Housing Accelerator Fund uses quick-drying concrete to trace and fill the home’s walls for 30% less than traditional construction. Homes built from plastic waste or bamboo, with solar-powered heaters, or low-cost appliances are a legacy of Habitat’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter. The center has funded and mentored over 70 startups in Mexico, Kenya, India, South East Asia, and South America. Apply to Habitat for Humanity for an affordable homeownership loan.
Why You Need an Axess Law Real Estate Lawyer
What happens when you find a home you love?
Hiring an Axess Law real estate lawyer in Ontario ensures your offer to purchase has essential clauses that allow you to withdraw. Making a firm offer without conditions that protect you as a home buyer could backfire. Axess Law’s virtual real estate lawyers review your contract to ensure it doesn’t disadvantage you.
When a firm offer real estate deal leaves you in a legal quandary.
We amend your agreement of purchase and sale if you need more time to conclude a real estate purchase. Our licensed real estate lawyers can negotiate with the seller’s lawyer when home inspections turn up expensive repairs, or defects that may make a home purchase undesirable to you.
Our lawyers in Toronto, Greater Toronto Area, and Ottawa can answer any questions you have about buying a home.
Common questions to ask real estate lawyers.
And if your timelines are tight, Axess Law’s remote real estate lawyers liaise with the seller’s lawyer and your mortgage lender to ensure legal documents are signed by the deadlines in your agreement of purchase and sale. We discharge existing mortgages, and search titles to property before transferring them into your name. Want to add a family member to the title? We do it all. All you have to do is pick up the keys and move in.
Affordable Real Estate Lawyers, Anywhere You Are
Access lawyers for less in Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, or anywhere in Ontario when you buy, sell, or transfer property. Axess Law’s flat fee real estate lawyers are affordable, and our rates are all inclusive (excluding taxes, disbursements, and third-party charges). Axess Law offers you only the legal services you absolutely need. Your final invoice includes no surprises or hidden charges. Your itemized statement of adjustments is explained when we deliver it, and we answer any questions you have about it.
Find a real estate lawyer in Ontario.
Find Real Estate Lawyers Near You
Ask about our convenient day or evening appointments, or go online to book yourself. Dial our 647-479-0118 lawyer line for a free quote on buying your next home, or toll free to 1-877-552-9377. For an experienced real estate lawyer, call Axess Law today. When you need to drop by to sign legal documents, we have onsite parking, and easy transit access at all our Greater Toronto Area or Ottawa locations.
