Residential properties throughout much of Guelph may soon be allowed to have four units on them, up from the current cap of three, without having to first receive special permission from city council.
Allowing four units as-of-right is among 17 recommendations heading to city council during a special meeting on Oct. 17 as it looks to address the housing affordability crisis and issues regarding homelessness.
City staff recommends approving all of them.
“Our community continues to experience challenges with the affordability of housing. There is an imbalance between the supply of and demand for housing which has contributed to increases in average home ownership and rental costs that have far outpaced increases in average income,” states the report. “The market, alongside existing government funding programs and various policy levers, does not deliver enough housing that is at a level of affordability to meet community needs.”
Other recommendations include adopting a human rights-based approach to housing, advocacy work at various levels of government, that local developers be asked to donate land for housing, and that city staff work with homebuilders and developers to advance approved housing projects that have yet to be built.
The recommendations flow from the County of Wellington, which is responsible for social housing programs in the city. They were formally presented to council during a special meeting in September, along with a request for a funding boost.
County officials are seeking an additional $5.3 million in 2024 ($4.6 million from the city, and $734,000 from the county) for homelessness prevention, emergency shelters, emergency responses to homelessness, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, rental supplements, maintenance costs and administration.
There will be a request for another increase of $1.2 million in 2025.
“City staff are working to quantify these budgetary impacts, and strategies for phasing them in over time, and these will be presented as part of the city’s multi-year budget,” the staff report notes.
The 2024 to 2027 budget process is set to be launched on Nov. 3.
