Bruce County recently launched the Affordable Housing Toolkit with a housing strategy report, Affordable Housing 101 Guide that “… shares with developers foundational information and resources highlighting the context for affordable housing creation in Bruce County and its local municipalities”.
The current housing picture not only in Saugeen Shores but across the County is grim.
“Between 2016 and 2019, the vacancy rate for rental units in Saugeen Shores fell from 5.9% to where it is today at 0.5%”. While the vacancy rate fell, the price of rents rose exorbitantly making it almost impossible for many to find rental accommodation.
In addition, short-term rentals have added to the problem. Landlords who have private rentals have decided to ‘cash in’ on the demand for rental property. Whether it’s the opportunity to rent to high-income contract workers at the nearby nuclear power facility or summer visitors willing to pay high-priced, short-term rentals during peak tourist season, the effect is felt in the rental market for those lower-earning workers who want to call the community home on a permanent basis but cannot find an affordable rental.
According to the report, from 2016 to 2020, 812 medium-to-high density homes, such as apartment buildings (16.1%) and row-houses (20.3%), were constructed in Saugeen Shores. Given the growth in the demand for rental housing and the population of working age and senior households, the Town is looking to increase the proportion of medium-to-high density housing to accommodate the needs of current and future residents. Whether or not developers offer these housing types at an ‘affordable cost’ remains to be seen.
According to the report, “an estimated 7,000 households called Saugeen Shores home in 2021. The number of households is expected to further grow by 27.1% to 9,600 households by 2046. In 2016, 79.4% of households in Saugeen Shores owned their homes, while 20.6% were renters. Housing affordability is an issue for households in the town, primarily impacting renter households of whom 43.5% are spending 30% or more of their income on housing. In comparison, 11.2% of owners face the same issues with affordability.”
The acceptable statistic for housing, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), is that no one should pay more than 30 per cent of income for housing. In Saugeen Shores, it was reported that 43.5 per cent of those who rent and 11.2 per cent of home owners pay more than 30% for basic housing.
The numbers elsewhere are similar. As of the 2016 Census, 45% of renters across Bruce County report spending more than 30% of their income on housing, which again is above what is considered affordable.
As most in the community are aware, the price to buy a home has more than doubled increasing from $225,433 in 2016 to $513,875 in 2020 and continuing to rise to more than $700,000.
In the report, “the average cost of rental housing has risen by 18.6% from $855 to in 2016 to $1,052 in 2020”. Those with families who require two or three-bedroom units fair much poorer however, with rents from $1,600 to $2,000.
Across the County, in 2021, there were approximately 634 applicants on the waitlist for Community Housing, a 29.3% increase from 2018. Most applicants (95.0%) in 2021 requested rent-geared-to-income housing demonstrating the significant need for ‘subsidized’ housing options and the affordability challenges faced by lower income households throughout the County.
In 2021, in Saugeen Shores alone, there were 324 households on the waitlist for subsidized housing. According to the County report, the greatest share of applicants were adults (128), followed by families (117) and seniors (79). “While the number of households on the waitlist decreased for all applicant types by from 259 applicants in 2019, the number of seniors on the waitlist increased the most, growing from 62 applicants in 2019 to 79 in 2021, indicating greater housing need for this population over time”. The numbers also indicate that seniors are less likely to want to leave the area while adults and families with children are perhaps looking elsewhere to try to live more affordably.
While the rental market is in highest demand, 52.4% of all new housing developments in Saugeen Shores were single detached homes in 2020 and, similarly in Kincardine, 64.5% of all new builds were single detached homes.
There is a particular need for one and two-bedroom rental units across Bruce County, but in 2016, only 24.9% of all homes in Bruce County had two bedrooms or less. The lack of rental housing and the high cost associated with units that are available, has a spin-off affect. Those in the service sector for instance earning less income, can no longer afford to live where they work, thereby affecting employment growth and creating difficulties for employers.
It is recognized that communities need developers, builders, and homeowners to create new rental housing that is ‘affordable’ to moderate income renter households earning $31,500 to $47,000 a year. The key being ‘affordable’ and whether or not the desire to keep prices affordable is there.
Moderate incomes for home ownership are pegged at $63,500 to $95,400 in the report. Therefore, ‘moderate’ home ownership would fall in the range of $230,700 to $346,600.
According to the Real Estate Board of Grey Bruce (RAGBOS) however, the benchmark prices for single-family homes has gained 27.9 per cent year-over-year to $607,000, for townhouse and row units 40.4 per cent to $488,800, and for apartments 45.9 per cent to $386,400.
Also, according to RAGBOS, in March 2022 alone, the average price of homes sold increased by 17.4 per cent from March, 2021 to $759,427. This year to date, the average price across the region was $760,693, a gain of 23.6 per cent over the first three months of 2021.
Bruce County, recognizing there is a housing problem, in addition to the newly release phase one report ‘Affordable Housing 101 Guide‘, will also be releasing three phased updates to the Affordable Housing Toolkit, tailored to developers of multi-residential buildings, developers and builders of low to medium density housing, and homeowners or landlords who could intensify their properties.
