Housing Action Plan
Ottawa has pledged to build 150,000 homes in the next 10 years, but so far has not put forward any meaningful plan to meet that target.
It’s been three years since the City of Ottawa declared a housing and homelessness emergency. Since then, Ottawa’s housing crisis has gotten significantly worse.
Our shelters are overflowing. Our homeless population has skyrocketed. Rental costs have made Ottawa unaffordable for working class people. And homebuying is completely out of reach for most young people. Not even a city councillor’s salary would qualify you for a mortgage for a starter home in Ottawa.
It’s time for urgent action on Ottawa’s housing crisis. It’s time for a housing action plan that makes housing affordable.
That’s why today, Make Housing Affordable is releasing our Housing Action Plan — a plan to make housing affordable and help the city qualify for the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund.
Our Housing Action Plan highlights the ten best ideas from the Housing Accelerator Fund and explains how we can implement them immediately to build more homes and make housing affordable in Ottawa.
Summary
1. Promote high-density development without rezoning (as-of-right zoning), e.g., for housing developments up to 10 stories in proximity (within 1.5km) of rapid transit stations and reduce car dependency.
2. Allow increased housing density (more units and storeys) on single lots, including promoting “missing middle” housing forms (buildings less than 4 stories).
3. Partner with non-profit housing providers to preserve and increase the stock of affordable housing.
4. Implement incentives, costing or fee structures, for example, density bonusing, to encourage affordable housing and conversions from non-residential to residential.
5. Implement revised parking requirements, such as reduced or eliminated parking spaces for new developments.
6. Promote and allow more housing types serving vulnerable populations.
7. Reduce and streamline urban design and character guidelines, i.e., eliminate height restrictions, visual character requirements, view cones, setbacks, etc.
8. Waive public hearings on all affordable housing projects conforming to the official community plan.
9. Enable mixed-use redevelopment of city-owned properties while maintaining current government use where appropriate, e.g., building housing on top of a library or office space.
10. Align development charges with infrastructure and servicing costs.