Middlesex County Attainable Housing Review
Fundamental to creating healthy and inclusive communities is the availability of a variety of housing options to meet the differing needs of current and future residents. Similar to communities across Ontario and Canada, Middlesex County is experiencing housing pressures due to changing demographics and market trends.
Access to a range of housing forms, including attainable, affordable and accessible housing, is a priority for the County. In order to better understand the current supply and demand of housing across the County and develop strategies aimed at ensuring a broad array of housing options are available to meet the full spectrum of needs of residents in Middlesex, the County undertook an Attainable Housing Review.
The objectives of the review were to: examine the needs across the entire housing continuum; identify gaps in the provision of housing; prepare a municipal strategy to meet current and future needs. The project involved data collection and analysis related to current local housing strategies, existing housing data, roles and responsibilities related to housing, best practices and comparison to other municipalities, as well as an extensive community and stakeholder engagement process. The Final Report can be found at Middlesex County Attainable Housing Review Report.
The Housing Continuum
Community and Stakeholder Engagement
The Attainable Housing Review incorporated community and stakeholder engagement activities, the findings of which are outlined in the What We Are Hearing Report. Through extensive conversations and feedback from residents and stakeholders through focus group sessions, questionnaires, community round tables, and interviews with persons with lived experience, several key messages, and priorities regarding the future of housing in Middlesex County emerged. This work informed the vision, goals, targets, and recommended actions.
Comparator Municipal Engagement and Best Practices Review
To gain a comprehensive understanding of local housing challenges, as well as the roles, responsibilities, and best practices implemented by similar municipalities, interviews were conducted with local municipal staff, City of London staff, representatives from nine comparator municipalities, and organizations within the municipal sector. The findings are summarized in the Local and Comparator Municipal Engagement Report.
Housing Roles and Responsibilities
The Housing and Homelessness System in the Province of Ontario is complex and requires the participation of four levels of government, in addition to the not-for-profit and private sectors. The Examination of Best Practices in Housing Roles Report reviews the responsibilities of the Federal Government, the Provincial Government, the City of London as the Service System Manager, Municipalities, Community Housing Providers and the Private Sector.
Housing Needs
The Housing Needs Assessment Report provides an overview of housing market and affordability indicators. In summary, after periods of modest population growth and new construction, Middlesex County has seen a shift in the housing market – from a community generally aging and relying on inter-generational growth – to a region sought after by new residents. This growth has been particularly brought on by families, young couples, and young single adults.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has been identified as an influence leading to relocating away from major city centres to smaller towns, the increasing cost of housing and quality of life factors are important longer-term trends. Many home buyers and investors have been priced out of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) leading them to seek opportunities elsewhere in Ontario. Looking forward to 2031, Middlesex County is anticipated to need an additional 4,180 to 8,760 housing units to meet demand, depending on the level of growth realized.
Affordable and Attainable Housing Definitions
Affordable and attainable housing can have many definitions within different Federal, Provincial and Municipal programs and documents. The concepts of affordable and attainable housing for the purposes of the Attainable Housing Review have been based on the definitions in the Provincial Policy Statement and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data estimates.
2023 affordable rental housing is a unit for which the rent is at or below $1,039 per month which is the average market rent of a unit in Middlesex County. 2023 affordable and attainable ownership housing is housing with a purchase price of or below $572,000 which results in annual accommodation costs which do not exceed 30% of gross annual household income for low- and moderate-income households, where low and moderate income households refers to households with incomes in the lowest 60% of the income distribution of all households for the regional market area.
Affordable Rental Housing Development Resource Guide
With the recognition that community not-for-profit housing providers and the private sector play crucial roles in the provision of housing, an Affordable Rental Housing Development Resource Guide was developed. The guide serves as a resource for organizations seeking to engage in the development, construction, and management of affordable and attainable housing. Although not an exhaustive "how-to" guide to development, the Guide sets out the framework within which housing projects are undertaken, provides practical insights into the development process, and serves as an orientation tool and offers insights into best practices and unique considerations for affordable housing projects. Additional information can be found on the Resources for Housing Developers section.
Final Report
The Middlesex County Attainable Housing Review Final Report summarizes the Project and includes the Vision that every Middlesex County resident has the opportunity to access the type of housing they need in their community and outlines three goals to achievement of the vision:
1. To support clarification of County and local Municipal roles in addressing housing and homelessness needs in Middlesex County.
2. To have a range of housing options, including a mix of unit types, tenure, and supports, to meet the needs of current and future County residents.
3. To support economic growth and quality of life through an adequate supply of housing that is affordable and attainable to households with low- and moderate-incomes.