ADUs and tiny homes helping housing crisis

The popularity of additional dwelling units (ADUs)is growing but not everyone knows ADUs come in different forms.

There are tiny homes like the one Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy unveiled last week. It’s 430 square feet with all necessary amenities.

“The thing that's driving it forward is the need for affordable housing,” said Dan Radmore, president of Laneway Homes.

Tiny homes are helping Windsor and Essex County meet the provincial target of 30-thousand new homes by 2031.

“We support the province and the change the province made to say, ‘You know what? You can have ADUs. You can have a mother-in-law suite in the basement on the proper sized property. You can have an ADU in the backyard that adds to that property,’” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told a gathering at IBEW 773 headquarters with Doug Ford in attendance.

The city is on the hook for 13-thousand new residential units.

“We believe that it is a pathway to see more housing being built, add more supply to the housing market,” said Dilkens.

Stuart Cameron, VP of operations at Laneway Homes, said tiny homes are more economical to build, but not practical, “It doesn't make sense for an investor to purchase a lot, if it's a couple hundred thousand dollars, and then build a 450 square foot home.”

An ADU doesn’t have to be another home in someone’s backyard.

“This particular property here was [an] existing duplex with one address,” explained Nate Tenthorey, owner of Onyx General Contracting. “It was severed, with a variance through the city of Windsor to have two separate addresses.”

Tenthorey has built detached ADUs and is currently working on an indoor one on Peter Street.

“This particular landlord, he can rent it out however he wants. But, you know, down the road, if somebody was to buy it, they could do anything with the basement. They could rent the upper floor…have a purpose for that and then in the basement they could Airbnb it,” he said.

Conversions are popular, but Cameron said there are opportunities in Windsor and surrounding communities with unused alleys that allow for privacy and access for everyone involved.

“If we get another 100 tiny homes in the city of Windsor, Essex County, that's another 100 homes out of the demand. Right. So more supply, less demand,” said Cameron, who noted banks and credit unions are trying to navigate the construction process and finance the tiny home. “If financial institutions and credit unions can figure out how to solve that problem and get those resources to home owners it will speed this up exponentially.”