Taxing vacant land earmarked for real estate speculation, reviewing urban planning regulations to encourage densification and adapting social housing financing programs: the first edition of the Sommet de l’habitation, held in Laval, was the opportunity for a broad cross-fertilization of ideas to tackle the housing crisis on Friday.
One thing is certain, for many elected municipal officials, the status quo is not desirable. “It is clear that the current commitments are not up to expectations,” said the Mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, who had made the creation of this summit an electoral promise last year alongside the Mayor of Laval, Stephane Boyer.
Ms. Fournier was reacting to the speech by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Andrée Laforest held in the morning in the large conference room of the convention center of the Sheraton Hotel, where some 400 people gathered at the occasion of this summit, which was sold out.
The Minister, who openly expressed her interest in keeping her current position after the provincial elections, then praised the outgoing government’s record on housing, particularly with regard to the construction of social housing and the efforts put in place to renovate existing dilapidated units. “I have read, I have re-read your requests [des municipalités] for the elections and really, we are on the right track”, launched the member for Chicoutimi, whose party, the Coalition avenir Québec, opted for the electoral slogan “Let’s continue” in anticipation of the October 3 election.
Words that puzzle Mayor Stéphane Boyer. “I would like to say that certainly, there have been gains; I’m thinking of the right of first refusal granted to cities in recent months. We feel that there is a desire to reform the programs, which, in my opinion, is good, but we must go further,” he said when questioned by The duty on Ms. Laforest’s remarks.
“We are going to tell each other, the right of first refusal is great, declared the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, in reference to the right granted to cities to be able to have priority of purchase on land or buildings. targeted buildings. But it is still necessary that when land is for sale and we have the possibility of being the first buyer, we have the means to buy it. »
“We need money,” added Ms. Plante, who also deplored – once again – the “chronic” lack of funding reserved for the development of social housing in the province. In the same vein, Mr. Boyer deplored the heaviness of provincial funding programs for social and affordable housing. “We want programs that put money on the table, but which are flexible, quick to apply and which can be adjusted to local reality,” he said. Because, “there are a lot of standards” which delay projects for several years, according to him.
Moreover, the former vice-mayor of Vienna from 2010 to 2019, Maria Vassilakou, took part in this summit on Friday to share the experience of the Austrian capital, where more than 60% of the population lives in housing owned by the City or non-profit organizations.
“We wanted to provide everyone, literally, with a roof over their heads in high-quality housing that they could afford,” Ms. Vassilakou said in an interview with the To have to the day before this summit. According to her, the Viennese model “can be reproduced almost everywhere”, if we stop seeing social housing as an accommodation option intended only for the less privileged tenants of society.
“I think we have to realize that in our cities, and at a time when prices are rising rapidly, developing social housing is not an issue for the less fortunate, it’s an issue for everyone. “, she added.
Speculation and densification
The proposals also poured in on Friday from the many participants at this summit, which attracted many organizations and associations as well as some thirty mayors from as many municipalities in Quebec. Of the lot, the mayor of Laval stood out by proposing to Quebec to allow cities to be able to tax more heavily the owners of land left vacant voluntarily for a few years for speculative purposes.
“I would like to tax these individuals to fund programs that will help create affordable housing for people,” said Mr. Boyer during a press briefing.
The City of Longueuil also unveiled on Friday the results of a province-wide survey by the firm Mainstreet Research, which indicates that the challenges of access to housing and property represent a major problem, even ” very important” for 84% of respondents. Some 70% of respondents also say they are in favor of the idea of increasing the density of cities “in order to house more people while protecting the remaining natural environments”.
“Densification can be done gently,” said Ms. Fournier. The latter observes that in certain residential areas of Longueuil, the owners of “large lots” which each have only one detached house should have the possibility of building “a small accessory housing unit” in their backyard “that they could sell or even rent. To do this, changes to the City’s zoning by-law may be necessary. We could thus accommodate more individuals on the same territory, without encroaching on the surrounding green spaces, explained the mayoress of Longueuil.