Affordable Housing and Land Supply Issues in the Greater Toronto Area - What the Academic Literature Tells Us
November 4, 2016 - This Policy Report authored by CUR Director, Professor David Amborski, summarizes academic literature from the economics and planning fields to help understand a number of policy issues related to the land and housing market in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
His review of the literature provides a cautionary tale that we need to guard against over land-use regulation, and ensure that we need to examine not only the benefits, but also the costs, especially economic costs, of our regulatory policies, like the Growth Plan, prior to approving them.
With respect to the issue of the impact of land supply on recent increases in the price of ground-related housing units, it is concluded the relevant supply to be considered is land that is not only designated but also approved and serviced for development. There is no doubt that deficiencies in the supply of these lands are contributing to rising house prices in the GTA.
The literature also demonstrates that both containment policies and land use regulation have impacts on land/housing prices and housing affordability in the U.S., Britain, Europe and New Zealand.
Finally, the report identifies recent research reporting on empirical studies which indicate high house prices and diminished affordability resulting from land use regulation have adverse impacts on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced by urban regions, and the disparity between high and low income households which persists and is growing in some regions.
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