Owning a home now considered a luxury: Report

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New study reveals impact housing crisis is having on so many

There is a critical need for a balanced public policy approach to address Canada’s affordable housing crisis and it is one that needs to involve all levels of government, says Pedro Barata, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada.

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Barata made the comments following the recent release of a new study by the organization conducted by market research firm Leger that indicated 84 per cent of those polled feel that owning a home is a luxury and 88 per cent of renters defined it as a goal that is simply out of reach.

 Key findings revealed that:

• The majority of Canadians (74 per cent) feel communities “are being fractured by a lack of appropriate housing for low-and middle-income people.”
• Upwards of 59 per cent of respondents “worry about sacrificing other basic needs like food, living essentials, clothing and education in order to afford their rent or mortgage payments.”
• Almost one-third of Canadian millennials (29 per cent) and Gen Z (25 per cent) would consider moving to another country in order to find affordable housing.
• When asked what actions “governments should prioritize to tackle the housing crisis, Canadians favoured lowering fees and taxes for homebuyers (64 per cent), creating programs to encourage affordable home ownership (46 per cent) and the conversion of unused space for housing (44 per cent).”

“Despite homeownership being out of reach for so many, Canadians continue to believe in its benefits,” Barata said. “Homeownership can’t just be the privilege of the wealthy or lucky few.

“At Habitat we see the transformational change that happens when families own their own home, affordably. The security and peace of mind benefit their health, economic  opportunities and investments in their community. It benefits all of us.”

He contends that the affordable housing crisis “is not a simple issue by any stretch of the imagination. And in the context of the entire affordable housing crisis, we have seen public policy makers at all levels over the course of the past decade, really prioritize rental and purpose built rentals.”

Barata added  while that makes total sense, “at the same time, what has fallen off the radar screen is affordable homeownership, which is really that bridge for, many households.”

There are, he said, many Canadians, “who work hard, who are doing all the right things, who are probably renting, and who you know in their hearts aspire to one day own a home, but have been locked out of that opportunity.”

The time has come to “put affordable home ownership back as a central feature of what Canadians are looking for and what governments need to provide. And that’s been missing for a long time.”

While there are quick wins governments at all levels can do right now through policy changes and incentives, according to Barata, “there are also longer term steps that can be taken, starting now to make sure that affordable homeownership goes from a hopeless dream to a tangible reality within reach for an increasing number of Canadians.”

In municipalities such as Toronto and Ottawa, he said he “gives governments at all three levels credit for recognizing that the housing crisis needs to be addressed, and for leaning in on the purpose built rental, and we have seen that investments that have been put forward tripartite have are actually leading to tangible change, tangible units.

“What we have not seen is that kind of alignment on the affordable homeownership space.”