
The Halifax Regional Municipality has decided that its zoning by-laws, parts of which are 50 years old, need updating. Ten years ago it embarked on a review process that will wrap up at the end of 2019. Some stakeholders are drawing attention to the affordable housing policies.
About face?
An early draft of the policies set affordable housing requirements for each residential development. The direction in the current draft is quite different. The affordable housing requirement for each building is gone. Instead, any new residential development will be subject to an affordable housing fee if the approved building exceeds the height and/or density limits set in the new zoning by-law.
The current draft appears to mean that if density or height bonuses are not requested, no affordable housing fee will be due and no affordable units will be included in privately developed residential buildings.
What is happening to affordable housing?
One academic has been busy studying the existing supply of affordable housing in the city and changes to that stock over time. She found that rooming houses have been demolished and replaced with new housing that is not as affordable as the rooming houses were. On top of this, the dwindling stock of rooming houses, which are among the most affordable stock in the city, are not being replaced. See Global News: Sparse Affordable Housing Options In HRM Linked To Decline In Rooming Houses, Research Says
What is affordable housing?
A group of students are asking what affordable housing is and who it is being built for. They have attended the public information sessions and are seeking the views of residents through an on line survey. As they rightly point out, affordable housing means different things to different people. And, if you’re going to build a war chest of money for affordable housing, it’s a good idea to know what definition you’re using ahead of time. Presumably the results of the survey will help to contribute what Haligonians think on the matter and help elected representatives who will be charged with dispensing from the chest.
Where do City staff stand?
The changes to the affordable housing policies are the result of consultation with the development industry. Should the academic and the students be concerned about this? One of the planners talks about the flexibility that will come from the affordable housing fee policy, but she doesn’t go into any detail about what affordable means.
Another planner, interviewed in the context of the definition story, concedes that Halifax Regional Municipality does not have a definition of affordable housing. As the reporter concludes, it’s probably something they should pay attention to before the zoning review concludes. See more in The Coast: What Is Affordable Housing, Anyway?