‘Affordable’ GTA homes will each cost $376,000

February 22, 2021

A 2-bedroom condo on Jane Street, Toronto was listed February 12 for $239,000.
Homelife Maple Leaf Realty | Realtor.ca

A federal Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) for the Greater Toronto Area, launched January 15, aims to create approximately 540 affordable homes. RHI is prioritizing “people experiencing homelessness, Indigenous communities and women and girls.”
Other units will support seniors, youth and racialized communities.
The plan has a budget of $203.3 million, according to federal housing minister Ahmed Hussen.
RHI provides the necessary capital contributions to develop new, permanent affordable housing by covering costs associated with modular multi-unit rental construction; conversion of non-residential to affordable multi-residential; and “rehabilitation of buildings in disrepair and/or abandoned” to affordable homes.
The rapid part of the project, therefore, could get bogged down in construction and renovation delays, as any contractor or homeowner would attest.
RHI funding works out to about $376,000 per home, but there may be a route to providing even quicker housing for those in need.
As of February 12, Canada’s largest listing service realtor.ca had 546 GTA condo apartments priced less than $400,000—of which 381 were priced at $375,000 or less (including 281 listed at $200,000 or less).
With GTA condo prices down 4.6 per cent in January 2021 from a year ago, and city of Toronto prices down 8 per cent, the government could feasibly deliver all of the RHI “affordable” homes needed from existing stock.