Windsor-Essex developers show high interest to build, but market conditions dampen housing starts
Re-zoning applications for new housing are flowing into Windsor City Hall at a record pace, but housing starts are falling way behind targets to provide more housing supply, according to data from the City of Windsor.
“We haven't seen this level of activity for decades and decades play out in the City of Windsor,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who has noticed a high volume of applications come before council over the past few years.
Municipalities across Canada are engaging in a big push to build more housing to keep pace with demand and help bring more supply to the market to rein in affordability.
Windsor city council has pledged to build 13,000 housing units by 2031.
“It is certainly a stretch goal any way you look at it, but we understand the pressure that's out there. And we also want to get it done at the municipal level,” said Dilkens.
But just because an application is submitted by a developer doesn’t necessarily mean a home will be built imminently.
There’s an order of operations prospective builders must follow. First, developers must get council’s approval to re-zone land as residential. Then developers must go through site plan approval, which can be a lengthy process before a final building permit is issued.
In 2022, council approved re-zoning applications for 2,635 housing units. The city then processed site plan approvals for 1,210 units and issued building permits for 798 units.
In 2023, Windsor city council approved re-zoning for 2,095 units, the city gave site plan approvals for 1,699 units and issued building permits for 1,088 housing units, according to data provided by the City of Windsor.
“We are pushing a lot of applications through the re-zoning process, a lot of applications through the site plan process, but right now on the building side, that's where things are slowing down,” said Dilkens.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Windsor only has 424 housing starts so far this year when it needs and average of 1,300 each year to hit the provincial target.
Brent Klundert, chair of the Windsor Essex Home Builders Association, says many factors are at play, pointing to the slow site plan approval process as a major barrier.
“If we can tighten up those periods again, giving the developer a little bit of a chance to be nimble,” Klundert said, noting when the market it hot, developers need to be able to act quickly. “That is going to be the biggest portion of things getting that project shovel ready, ready to go, in the quickest time possible.”
Klundert also believes high interest rates are a major reason why developers are holding off on starting some projects.
“Once those interest rates move as they did, they become, you know, a dead project because they're just not feasible anymore. You can’t make the numbers make sense,” he said. “All of a sudden, the feasibility of that project isn't as great as when that application first went in.”
He believes the city’s lofty targets are attainable but will require better market conditions and faster approvals.
“It's a very tall order. I'll tell you that,” he said. “Can it be done? Yeah, I'm sure it can. A lot of things can change in the in the landscape in order for that to happen.”
Mayor Dilkens says housing construction may be off target pace today but when market conditions approve, developers will be ready.
“Once interest rates change and perhaps go down just a little bit, in our approved pipeline there are thousands of units that you will see built,” Dilkens said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
AS IT HAPPENED Wildfire reaches Jasper Wednesday night, causes 'significant loss'
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Alberta calls in army to assist with wildfire situation
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Vacations, meals, booze: Contractor used $100K of charity's money for personal expenses, B.C. court finds
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Male, female killed, 2 others injured in 'gun battle' outside Toronto plaza: police
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.