We’ve more than a housing crisis, increasingly what we have is a crisis of confidence.
Confidence that a solution will be found, let alone enacted, in our lifetimes.
Confidence in any level of government, let alone in the various levels working in harmony.
This was evident in Ottawa on March 18&19 during the CMHC National Housing Outlook conference where the tagline was ‘unlocking solutions together‘ yet the reality was that several presentations highlighted the fact that the different levels of government are not working together to unlock solutions at all.
‘discovering obstacles together’ may have been a more apt tagline.
As one small example of this, several municipal governments are fighting various solutions proposed by their Provincial or the Federal government tooth and nail. All the while building codes are getting more complex, planning departments more swamped, and permitting delays are now longer than ever before… as much as 9 years in some communities.
There is agreement one one thing only; we have a problem.
This is where agreement (mostly) ends.
The Prime Minister (for now) recently touted ‘3D Printed Homes’ as a solution.
Sure… but;
One needs municipal approval.
One needs 3D printers (theses are few and far between in Canada)
One needs land on which to build.
And of course one needs funds, aka money… aka financing approval.
And the last word I’ll leave you with is the key to it all – it’s the critical piece all in attendance agreed upon. It came up in every presentation I attended, from commercial office conversions, to assisted living, to 3D printed homes, to the USA sharing ideas with us… it always came down to one crucial factor, a factor above cooperation, above zoning, above approvals, above labour shortages, one thing above all else… because even if one can sort out all the other things… which takes more time than ever, there’s that one thing that time equals, that one thing that complexity and problems can be overcome with. That one thing that is a key ingredient, and no it can’t just come from the government…
Money.
And what business are we in?
We’re in the business of arranging financing, aka;
Money.
Bottom line; you have job security through this crisis because demand for housing is not going away anytime soon.
And demand for housing equals demand for;
Money.
DW