Public Report

To: Development Services Committee

From: Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Director, Planning Services, Development Services

Report Number: DS-15-37

Date of Report: January 28, 2015

Date of Meeting: February 2, 2015

Subject: 2014 City of Oshawa Housing Monitoring Report

File: B-1300-0014

1.0 Purpose

The purpose of this report is to present the 2014 City of Oshawa Housing Monitoring Report including information on the creation of new accessory apartments since Council approved Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments to permit accessory apartments more broadly in the City.

Council policy, as embodied in the Oshawa Official Plan, requires an annual Housing Monitoring Report.

In June 2014 this Department indicated that it will carefully monitor the creation of new accessory apartments and will update Council yearly in the annual Housing Monitoring Report.

The 2014 Housing Monitoring Report forms Attachment 1 to this report and is generally based on year-end 2014 information from a variety of sources.

2.0 Recommendation

That the Development Services Committee recommend to City Council:

That, pursuant to Report DS-15-37 dated January 28, 2015, concerning the 2014 City of Oshawa Housing Monitoring Report be received for information.

3.0 Executive Summary

Not applicable.

4.0 Input From Other Sources

Not applicable.

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Report to Development Services Committee Item: DS-15-37 Meeting Date: February 2, 2015 Page 2

5.0 Analysis

In accordance with Oshawa Official Plan policy, the City is required to monitor the achievement of housing policies and to report the results in an annual Housing Monitoring Report.

Since 1991 this Department has reported to Committee and Council on the range of housing forms produced, house prices, household characteristics, housing supply, housing completions, building permits issued, subdivision activity and housing affordability in an annual Housing Monitoring Report. The Housing Monitoring Report also includes information on the creation of new accessory apartments.

The City’s housing policies, financial and otherwise, are being successfully implemented.

The Housing Monitoring Report normally includes an update on the implementation of the City’s 2010 Student Accommodation Strategy. One of the approved recommendations was that the Student Accommodation Strategy be reviewed and updated every 5 years. Therefore, in 2015 an update on the Student Accommodation Strategy will be provided in a separate report.

In 2014 approximately 28% of the City’s new residential units were constructed within the “built boundary” as defined by the Province pursuant to the Provincial Growth Plan. In 2015 the Provincial target rises to about 40%.

6.0 Financial Implications

There are no financial implications associated with the Recommendation in this report.

7.0 Relationship to the Oshawa Strategic Plan

This Report and the identified housing initiatives advance the Economic Prosperity and Social Equity goals of the Oshawa Strategic Plan.

Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Director, Planning Services, Development Services

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DS-15-37 Attachment 1

2014 City of Oshawa Housing Monitoring Report

Prepared By: Development Services Department, January 2015

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2014 City of Oshawa Housing Monitoring Report

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 2

2.0 Summary Highlights .................................................................................................. 2

3.0 Housing Data ............................................................................................................. 3

3.1 Existing Housing Supply ......................................................................................... 3

3.1.1 Number of Housing Units by Type ................................................................... 3

3.1.2 Rental Vacancy Rate ....................................................................................... 3

3.1.3 Assisted Housing ............................................................................................. 4

3.2 Household Characteristics ..................................................................................... 5

3.2.1 Persons Per Unit .............................................................................................. 5

3.2.2 Family Households .......................................................................................... 5

3.2.3 Home Ownership ............................................................................................. 6

3.3 Subdivision Summary ............................................................................................. 6

3.4 Residential Building Permits ................................................................................... 7

3.5 Rental Rates and House Prices ............................................................................. 7

3.5.1 Apartments ...................................................................................................... 7

3.5.2 Single Detached Dwellings .............................................................................. 8

3.6 Accessory Apartments ........................................................................................... 8

4.0 City of Oshawa Community Improvement Plans/Development Charge Exemptions . 9

5.0 Recommended Actions in 2015 ................................................................................. 9

6.0 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 10

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1.0 Introduction

This report constitutes the year-end 2014 Housing Monitoring Report. An annual monitoring report is required by the Oshawa Official Plan.

More specifically, the housing policies in the Oshawa Official Plan require the City to monitor the adequacy of the supply of lands designated for residential uses, the price and range of housing produced by type and tenure, residential intensification and resale housing.

In June 2014 this Department indicated that it will carefully monitor the creation of new accessory apartments and will update Council yearly in the annual Housing Monitoring Report.

Sources of information used in the preparation of this monitoring report include the Oshawa Land Information System (OLI), City of Oshawa Building Permit statistics, City of Oshawa registration statistics for accessory apartments, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the Durham Region Association of Realtors (DRAR), the Region of Durham Housing Services and Statistics Canada.

2.0 Summary Highlights

It is estimated that the City of Oshawa contains 61,697 dwelling units. These are comprised of 34,252 single detached dwelling units, 5,370 semi-detached dwelling units, 5,454 townhouse units and 16,621 apartment units. Accessory apartments are included under the “apartment” category.

In 2014, building permits were issued for 805 new housing units, reflecting a significant level of building activity.

There is a good supply (5,122 units) of potential units (2,233 single detached, 318 semi-detached, 1,192 townhouse and 1,379 apartment units) in proposed, draft approved and registered plans of subdivision as of year-end 2014. Based on the development activity of the last five years, this would equate to approximately a 7 year supply for all potential units.

The availability of rental apartment accommodation in the City of Oshawa decreased in 2014 as the overall private rental apartment vacancy rate in Oshawa fell from 2.2% in 2013 to 2.0% in 2014.

The City of Oshawa had a supply of 3,491 assisted housing units as of December 2014, comprised of 1,000 seniors’ units and 2,491 family/non-seniors’ units.

There are 848 registered accessory apartments. In 2014, 105 applications were received to register properties as two-unit houses and 84 of the 105 applications were received after the passing of the accessory apartment by-law amendments on June 23, 2014.

Areas that staff will need to monitor and report on in future Housing Monitoring Reports or in separate focused reports include multi-residential construction activity, strategies to achieve the intensification target established by the Province, the continued monitoring of

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newly created accessory apartments, the status of the housing action items listed in Plan 20Twenty for Downtown Oshawa and the continued implementation of the Student Accommodation Strategy.

3.0 Housing Data

3.1 Existing Housing Supply

3.1.1 Number of Housing Units by Type

The total number of housing units and the distribution of housing units by type at year-end 2014 are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1: City of Oshawa Housing Unit Distribution by Type, 2014

Housing Type Number Percentage of Total Single Detached 34,252 55.6% Semi-Detached 5,370 8.7% Townhouse 5,454 8.8% Apartment 16,621 26.9% Total 61,697 100%

Sources: Statistics Canada (2011 Census) and Development Services Department Building Permit Statistics since 2011 Census

3.1.2 Rental Vacancy Rate

The vacancy rate for private apartments in Oshawa was 2.0% as of October 2014, down from 2.2% in 2013 (CMHC Rental Market Report, Greater Toronto Area, Fall 2014). In order to ensure an adequate supply of rental accommodation, the Oshawa Official Plan contains guidance regarding the conversion of existing rental units to condominium tenure not normally being permitted when the rental vacancy rate is below 3%.

CMHC collects and publishes vacancy rate data for two zones in Oshawa, which consist of the area generally north of Rossland Road (Zone 1) and the area generally south of Rossland Road (Zone 2). The private apartment vacancy rate in Zone 1 decreased from 1.3% in 2013 to 1.1% in 2014. The private apartment vacancy rate in Zone 2 decreased from 2.8% in 2013 to 2.5% in 2014.

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3.1.3 Assisted Housing

Table 2 highlights the number of assisted seniors’ units by dwelling type and service provider at year-end 2014.

Table 2: City of Oshawa, Assisted Seniors' Units, 2014

Oshawa Assisted Housing Units Townhouse/Row Apartment Total Durham Regional Local Housing Corporation (DRLHC)

5 296 301

Private Non-Profit and Cooperatives 0 699 699 Total Seniors’ Units 5 995 1,000 Source: Region of Durham Housing Services

Table 3 highlights the number of assisted family/non-seniors’ units by dwelling type and service provider at year-end 2014.

Table 3: City of Oshawa, Assisted Family/Non-Seniors' Units, 2014

Oshawa Assisted Housing Units Townhouse/Row Apartment Total Oshawa Housing Company (managed by DRLHC)

0 22 22

DRLHC (including 12 units under the Investment in Affordable Housing Program)

365 12 377

Private Sector Units under the Investment in Affordable Housing Program

0 61 61

Regional Rent Supplement Program 5 296 301 Durham Non-Profit Housing Corporation 168 126 294 Private Non-Profit and Cooperatives 343 540 883 Federal Cooperatives 472 81 553 Total Family/Non-Seniors’ Units 1,353 1,138 2,491 Source: Region of Durham Housing Services

The total number of assisted seniors’ and family/non-seniors’ units in 2014 was 3,491, which includes 1,358 townhouse/row housing units and 2,133 apartment units.

The City continues to provide support in the form of property tax incentives for assisted rental housing projects. This is a prerequisite to senior government approvals under the Investment in Affordable Housing Program. City Council has supported the following projects which are being advanced through the development approval processes:

A proposed 75 unit apartment project at 1658 Ritson Road North. A total of 52 units will be affordable housing units for persons on the Region’s social housing list; and

A 17 unit apartment project currently under construction at 109 Park Road South under the GTA Aboriginal Housing Component of the Investment in Affordable Housing Program.

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3.2 Household Characteristics

3.2.1 Persons Per Unit

Between 1986 and 2006 the number of persons in each dwelling unit declined, as shown in Table 4 below. However, the 2011 Census reveals a modest increase in the number of persons per dwelling.

Table 4: Oshawa Persons per Dwelling Unit, 1986-2011

Census Year Persons per Dwelling Unit 1986 2.9 1991 2.7 1996 2.7 2001 2.6 2006 2.4 2011 2.5

Source: Statistics Canada

The person per dwelling unit reported by the Oshawa Land Information (OLI) System using the assessment data at year-end 2014 was 2.3.

3.2.2 Family Households

CMHC defines a family household as at least one economic family. An economic family is defined as a group of related individuals sharing a common dwelling unit. A non-family household is considered to have one or more unattached persons (Source: Statistics Canada).

As shown in Table 5, the proportion of family households as a component of all households has generally declined since 1986 but has stabilized in recent years. However, family households remain the predominant household type.

Table 5: Census Based Family Household Percentages in Oshawa

Census Year Family Households as Percentages of Total Households

1986 78% 1991 76% 1996 74% 2001 72% 2006 71% 2011 71%

Source: Statistics Canada

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3.2.3 Home Ownership

Since 1986 the percentage of units owned vs. units rented has generally increased, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Census Based Ownership and Rental Percentages in Oshawa

Census Year Owned Units as a Percentage of Total Units

Rented Units as a Percentage of Total Units

1986 65% 35% 1991 63% 37% 1996 64% 36% 2001 67% 33% 2006 70% 30% 2011 69% 31%

Source: Statistics Canada

According to the City’s OLI System, the tenure split of existing housing stock at year-end 2014 was 71% ownership and 29% rental.

3.3 Subdivision Summary

The City of Oshawa has a healthy supply of vacant residential lots/blocks, as illustrated in Table 7.

Table 7: City of Oshawa, Subdivision Summary, 4th Quarter, 2014

Stage of Development Single Detached

Semi-Detached

Townhouse Apartment Total

Housing Units in Proposed Draft Plans 265 178 210 58 711

Housing Units in Draft Approved Plans 1,317 88 733 1,321 3,459

Housing Units on Lots in Registered Plans Without Building Permits Issued

651 52 249 0 952

Total Units 2,233 318 1,192 1,379 5,122 Source: Development Services Department

It is important to note that Table 7 includes figures for units in proposed draft plans which are not approved and which may be revised through the development review process. Further, this table does not include units intended to be developed through the site plan approval process (i.e. units which are not in a plan of subdivision).

The City also has a good supply of Residentially designated land in the current Oshawa Official Plan that is not yet in the subdivision process.

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Additional Residentially designated land can be included in the Oshawa Official Plan at the appropriate time given the Ontario Municipal Board approval of Regional Official Plan Amendment 128 which implements the Provincial Growth Plan.

3.4 Residential Building Permits

Table 8 indicates Oshawa’s residential building permit activity from 2010 to 2014. It is evident that 2014 was a strong year for residential development.

Table 8: City of Oshawa Residential Building Permit Activity, 2010-2014

Year Value of Residential Permits

Single Detached

Semi-Detached, Duplex and Accessory Apartments

Townhouse Apartment Total Units

2010 $213.75 M 592 8 16 109 725 2011 $162.8 M 323 48 77 115 563 2012 $209.0 M 457 20 75 57 609 2013 $286.9 M 391 33 26 570 1,020 2014 $265.6 M 434 11 150 210 805 Source: Development Services Department

3.5 Rental Rates and House Prices

3.5.1 Apartments

Average private apartment rental rates by unit type in the City of Oshawa from 2010 to 2014 are shown in Table 9.

Table 9: City of Oshawa Private Apartment Rental Rates by Type, 2010-2014

Unit Type Rental Rate 2010

Rental Rate 2011

Rental Rate 2012

Rental Rate 2013

Rental Rate 2014

Bachelor $641 $653 $645 $680 $680 1 Bedroom $787 $802 $817 $857 $858 2 Bedroom $891 $923 $925 $979 $1,000 3 Bedroom $1,022 $1,075 $1,041 $1,126 $1,158 Source: CMHC Rental Market Report, Greater Toronto Area, Fall 2014

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3.5.3 Single Detached Dwellings

Durham Region Association of Realtors (DRAR) statistics indicate that Oshawa exhibits affordable house prices for single detached dwellings, in relation to other municipalities in Durham Region, as shown in Table 10.

Table 10: Average Price of a Single Detached Dwelling (New & Resale) by Location, 2014

Municipality Average Price Oshawa $339,967 Clarington $391,854 Whitby $463,488 Ajax $511,125 Pickering $586,213 Durham Region $449,420

Source: DRAR Housing Report, November 2014

3.6 Accessory Apartments

On June 23, 2014, Council passed amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law 60-94 to implement certain changes to the Planning Act resulting from Bill 140, the Strong Communities through Affordable Housing Act, 2011, to allow accessory apartments more broadly in single detached dwellings and semi-detached dwellings. As a result of these amendments, accessory apartments are also now permitted in single detached dwellings in R1 (Residential) Zones and in semi-detached dwellings subject to specific regulations.

As of January 1, 2014 there were 812 properties registered as two-unit houses in Oshawa. The number of properties that applied to register a two-unit house in 2014 is shown below in Table 11.

Table 11: City of Oshawa 2014 Applications to Register Two-Unit Houses

Application Status Number of Units Certificate Issued 36 Application Accepted (in process) 66 Application Failed 2 Application Denied 1 Total Applications 105

Source: Oshawa Municipal Law Enforcement & Licensing

In 2014, the City of Oshawa received 105 applications to register properties as a two-unit house. This is a significant increase from 2013, where the City received 48 applications to register properties as a two-unit house. Out of the 105 applications received in 2014, 21 applications were submitted prior to the passing of the by-law amendments in June 2014 and 84 applications were submitted after the passing of the by-law amendments. Out of the 84 applications submitted after the passing of the by-law amendments,

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8 applications were to register accessory apartments in semi-detached dwellings. In addition, out the 84 applications submitted after the passing of the by-law amendments, 46 applications were to register accessory apartments in single detached dwellings in R1 (Residential) Zones.

The majority of the applications were to recognize existing accessory apartments rather than for the creation of new accessory apartments.

In total, Oshawa has 848 properties registered as two-unit houses as of year-end 2014, and 66 properties that are in the process of registering as a two-unit house.

4.0 City of Oshawa Community Improvement Plans/Development Charge Exemptions

A number of the City’s financial policies are intended to assist with the creation of a range of housing and more affordable housing. In this regard, the City has five (5) Community Improvement Plans (CIPs) and provides a development charge exemption for certain types of residential development in the Central Business District, the Simcoe Street North corridor near the Durham College and UOIT campus, and the King Street West and Thornton Road South corridors near Trent University. The Development Charge exemption in the areas near UOIT/Durham College and Trent University will expire on June 30, 2015.

In 2014 City staff issued building permits for the creation of 25 apartment units in areas of the City that were exempt from paying the City’s Development Charge.

In 2014 City Council approved the following Increased Assessment Grant applications under the University and College Area Renaissance Community Improvement Plan:

1. An apartment project (15 units) at 1645 and 1655 Simcoe Street North by 2345703 Ontario Inc.; and

2. Phase 2 of the apartment/block townhouse project (23 units) at 2 Taylorwood Road by Podium Developments/2015 Simcoe Street North Limited.

In 2014 City Council approved the following Increased Assessment Grant application under the Central Business District Renaissance Community Improvement Plan:

1. An apartment project (239 units) with ground floor commercial at 100 Bond Street East by Bond and Mary Development Inc.

5.0 Recommended Actions in 2015

Based on the statistics and information contained in the 2014 Housing Monitoring Report, City staff will undertake the following key actions in 2015:

Advance an Official Plan amendment to implement the Provincial Growth Plan and ROPA 128 for review by City Council and the public;

Review and update the housing policies in the Oshawa Official Plan as a component of the City’s Provincial Growth Plan Conformity exercise;

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Complete the 5 year review of the Student Accommodation Strategy; Continue to promote, support and facilitate appropriate multi-residential apartment

growth, including the review of any opportunity to access funds under any Federal and Provincial affordable housing programs;

Meet with the Building Industry Liaison Team, including the Durham Region’s Home Builder’s Association, and other builders to discuss opportunities/challenges for the construction of rental housing developments in Oshawa;

Process applications under the CIP program(s); Review the grant and loan programs contained in the City’s five (5) Community

Improvement Plans to determine if the programs are still appropriate; Advance the housing action items listed in Plan 20Twenty for Downtown Oshawa; Continue to process the site plan application for the affordable housing project at 1658

Ritson Road North; Continue to discuss residential development opportunities with Medallion Corporation

for the site at 135 Bruce Street; Process subdivision applications in the Kedron Part II Planning Area; Process Tribute’s Official Plan Amendment and rezoning application for medium

density housing at Simcoe Street North and Britannia Avenue West to support opportunities for a broader range of housing types; and

Continue to assist Habitat for Humanity to advance the project on Centre Street South to achieve their mandate of providing families with a foundation for positive change through affordable housing.

6.0 Conclusion

The 2014 Housing Monitoring Report shows that the City of Oshawa has a variety of housing types, affordable single detached housing (in a relative sense), and a good supply of vacant lots in the development approval process and land that is designated for future residential development.

The availability of rental apartments is restricted.

Overall, the housing policies related to such matters as residential intensification, ensuring an adequate supply of lands designated for residential use and providing a range of housing types are being implemented.

Areas that staff will need to monitor and report on in future Housing Monitoring Reports or in separate focused reports include multi-residential construction activity, strategies to achieve the intensification target established by the Province, the continued monitoring of newly created accessory apartments, the status of the housing action items listed in Plan 20Twenty for Downtown Oshawa and the continued implementation of the Student Accommodation Strategy.

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