As Toronto continues to grapple with a dearth of affordable housing, a surge in the sale of multimillion-dollar houses could, if tapped correctly, be used to lift hundreds of people from chronic homelessness and out of the city’s bursting emergency shelter system. That is the bones of a proposal being presented to city council next week, as part of a joint motion outlining how the creation of a new top-tier Municipal Land Transfer Tax rate could be used to extend a soon-to-be exhausted funding stream that is part of the city’s housing allowance program. The pitch is that homes sold for $3 million and up be subject to land transfer taxes of 3 or 3.5 per cent and homes sold with a value of $4 million be taxed at 4 per cent, with the extra funds used to support housing allowances and other programs designed to reduce chronic homelessness, as required. “We have seen an explosion in the number of houses that have sold for more than $3 million, meanwhile we have not been progressively capturing that increased revenue,” said Councillor Joe Cressy, speaking with the Star on Friday following a press conference at city hall. The idea is that those who “have benefited the most from a strong housing market” will help ensure the most marginalized also have a roof over their heads, he said. Cressy plans to move the motion asking council to instruct the general manager of shelter, support and housing administration to research the expansion of the housing allowance program, including the tax option, and report back to the planning and housing committee in May. Councillor Brad Bradford and Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão intend to second the motion and the report should come back before council in June. “The housing system is interconnected and we need to utilize a wide range of tools to ensure that all Torontonians have access to a safe, clean and affordable place to call home,” said Bailão, chair of the planning and housing co ...
|
