Ottawa's Residential Dwelling Approval Pipeline for Q3 2023
Plus City Council approves a new affordable housing incentive
A few things from City Hall this week:
Staff have published Ottawa's Residential Dwelling Approval Pipeline report for Q3 2023, along with year-to-date numbers for the year. Dashboards and more info below.
Yesterday City Council approved a new tax rebate for developers who include affordable housing units in new developments. To qualify, buildings need to have at least five affordable units representing a minimum of 20% of all units in the building. Depending on the level of affordability, they would receive between $6,000 and $8,000 per unit per year for 20 years, up to a maximum of $5-million over that timeframe.
Council rejected proposed changes to the Brownfield Redevelopment Community Improvement Plan that would have required projects to include affordable housing, and would have capped the maximum grant payable. The program provides funding grants to facilitate faster development of polluted land. From 2016-2023, it facilitated the construction of over 16,000 residential units, resulting in a tax uplift for the city of over $61-million. The yearly cost to the City is currently about $3.2-million.
Council also directed staff to explore allowing at least four residential units on serviced residential lots, subject to servicing or environmental constraints, as part of the re-write of the Comprehensive Zoning By-law.
This data is on the agenda for Ottawa's Planning and Housing Committee meeting of November 29. Some additional notes from planning staff:
Construction is picking up on apartments.
Building permits are up 129 per cent from 1,327 dwellings issued permits in Q2 2023 to 3,040 dwellings issued permits in Q3.
Housing starts are also up 66 per cent from 1,688 to 2,797.
Year-to-date in 2023, there have been 24,686 dwellings granted permissions or approved through development applications, excluding duplicate applications for the same project.
Of those 24,686 units, only 2,343 units or 9 per cent have been issued building permits as of Q3 2023.
I’ve shared some additional info on my web site: glengower.ca