2025 is starting with some great news for investors.
The second round of local governments approved for the housing accelerator fund was released today Jan 27th, 2025.
Unfortunately, we did not see any new municipalities in the Durham Region being approved for the housing accelerator fund.
Currently, in Durham, we are seeing the expansion of fourth-unit allowances only into Whitby and Ajax. Whitby and Ajax’s application for the first round of the housing accelerator fund was approved, meaning that they received millions of dollars from the federal government and, in turn, had to implement policy changes to increase density and affordable housing.
Though these changes have not yet been incorporated into the official plan,
Whitby and Ajax are in the process of making them.
Where are other municipalities in Durham
with their fourth unit allowances
We followed up with several municipalities with only one thus far giving us a clear answer.
Oshawa has been attempting to access federal funds; however, they were denied the first round of federal funding. With the success of the initial program, the federal government opened up additional funds for more municipalities to access. Oshawa applied for the second round of funding in September, and unfortunately, today, they were informed they were denied the funding.
After reviewing Oshawa’s application there was no clear indicator why it was denied. The by-law changes Oshawa proposed were in line with the federal recommendations. What lends to further frustration is that 400 million in funds were allocated for this second round of funding. With all of the municipalities approved less than 200 million of the allocated funds will be used. Only 4,500 of their projected 12,000 new homes will be built from this second round.
Why they didn’t do more is anybody’s guess. Hopefully, we see a further expansion of the program and more local markets get approved for the program.
Fourth Units Close By
Though we did not see an improvement in Durham Region with the second round of funding we did see an improvement in several markets close by. Both the city of Peterborough and the City of Belleville were approved in the second round of funding released today. This will aid in helping both these cities become more attractive investment opportunities.
We are excited to see what their policies will look like as we personally begin to expand outside of Durham Region in 2025.
Want to learn more about what we are involved in? Check us out through the links below!
For any concerns or inquires you can reach us at info@northlakesdevelopments.ca or through our website contact page.