Kingston staff report says goal of 8,000 residential units over 10 years achievable

The province’s goal of building 1.5 million homes by the end of 2031 is off to a slow start for many municipalities.

There are several reasons for the slow number of housing starts, such as higher mortgage rates.

The City of Kingston has set a goal of building 8,000 homes over the next decade, in keeping with the province’s goal.

A report issued by city staff earlier this year details building permits issued by the city.

Kingston, under the province’s More Homes Built Faster Act, has to build 8,000 residential units by the end of 2032 — an average of 800 units a year for 10 years.

In the report, city staff estimate the municipality should by able to meet the pledge it agreed to with Queen’s Park.

In 2022, city staff issued multi-residential permits for 595 units, permits for single detached, semi-detached and row houses for 278 units, for a total of 873 units.

In the first six months of 2023, the numbers are similar.

“As far as starts go, we’ve started off really well this year,” says Ryan Arcand, supervisor of Building Services for the city.

“We have in total 671 residential units from Jan. 1st until the end of June.”

Those include 36 single-family dwellings, 22 semi-detached, 42 row houses, 522 multi-unit residential and 49 secondary suites.

But in Kingston, affordability is another question.

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rental market report for 2022, Kingston’s vacancy rate sits at 1.2 per cent, and the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is almost $1,500 — a 4.9-per cent increase over the previous year.

According to the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association, the average selling price in June this year was was nearly $626,000 — a decrease of 1.8 per cent from June of last year, but still out of range for many.

Councillor Jeff McLaren says any affordable housing being built is coming primarily from municipalities, not the private sector.

“The model that I’ve seen as a result of the mayor’s task force on housing is that most developers want their money back in 10 years,” he says.

The municipality does have affordable housing builds underway on Wright Crescent and on Princess Street, and McLaren has been at the forefront of getting a housing co-op started in the city.

“Special dispensation from the government allows for 50-year mortgages,” says McLaren.

“Which makes it much more likely that we can get more affordable housing that way.”

But McLaren adds that municipal affordable housing projects on their own will have a limited impact on market prices.

“Likely, we won’t be able to move the needle a major amount,” he says.

“We can stop it from getting worse, and perhaps a small amelioration.”