(Quebec) Faced with the housing crisis and favorable demographic forecasts, the City of Quebec must double construction starts. The capital will notably allow greater density, abolish minimum parking requirements and allow “accessory dwellings”.
Mayor Bruno Marchand announced around twenty measures on Wednesday, some of which have long been requested by developers, to stimulate construction starts.
The objective is significant: the City expected to have to add 28,000 housing units by 2036. The housing crisis is forcing it to increase the pace. There are now 80,000 homes that must be built by 2040.
The objective is ambitious. In recent years, between 2,500 and 3,000 new units have been built in Quebec annually. The new objective is 5,000 on average per year.
“We will not become New York or Paris,” reassured Mr. Marchand. Our goal is to be the best Quebec city possible, with gentle densification. »
The City will therefore revise its regulations to allow more imposing buildings where possible. Bruno Marchand cited as an example the numerous parking lots of shopping centers in the capital, often underused, which could accommodate housing.
He also wants to revise the regulations in residential neighborhoods, but promises to do so tactfully.
“People who say: ‘If you increase density, will I end up with a ten-story building next to my bungalow?’ It’s not that, it’s a gentle densification,” promised the mayor, who did not want to comment specifically on the upcoming changes.
The City also promises to facilitate the issuance of building permits. Quebec is also acceding to a long-standing request from developers and will abolish the minimum parking requirement.
Currently, in the central districts of the capital, new constructions must offer one space for every two units. But parking lots are expensive to build, between $50,000 and $60,000 per space. Several promoters criticized these requirements.
“If the developer thinks he can build housing without parking, near a public transportation route, and sell it, then he should do it,” said Bruno Marchand. Before, there was a penalty. It was a reality 20, 30 years ago. »
“I find it an ambitious plan,” reacted the CEO of the Urban Development Institute, Isabelle Melançon, who represents the major developers.
The former Liberal MP, however, criticized another measure announced Wednesday by the Marchand administration, the idea of taxing owners of vacant land to encourage them to develop them. “Currently, it is difficult to move out of earth housing. We are facing the worst period we have experienced in housing,” said Mme Melançon, according to whom new taxes are so many obstacles.
Green light for “accessory dwelling units”
Quebec also wants to allow the construction of “accessory dwellings”, for example a mini-house on land behind a bungalow, or an apartment above a garage.
According to Mayor Marchand, these accessory dwelling units represent an example of “gentle densification”. They would make it possible to add housing in bungalow neighborhoods without disturbing the landscape.
“We don’t distort the soul of these neighborhoods, we respect the places where people live,” he says.
The measures announced by the City of Quebec are expected to cost a total of $605 million over three years. City hall plans to extend 147 million, asks for 348 million from Quebec and expects to receive 110 million from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).