With Stratford housing prices through the roof, NDP plan helps first-time buyers

STRATFORD — With people facing higher and higher home prices in Perth-Wellington, Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is in Stratford Thursday to offer hope to first-time buyers — a plan to help with their down payment, and to increase supply of homes everyday people can afford.

“Young people are worried they’re going to have to leave a great place like Stratford to find a place they can afford, leaving family behind. Parents are worried their kids will have to leave if they ever want to own a home of their own. The housing crisis in Ontario is really hurting people’s chance to build the life they’ve always dreamt of,” said Horwath.

“Our plan will help you afford to live in the community you love. This is a plan that builds more homes, and makes them available and affordable for everyday Ontarians, not deep-pocketed investors and speculators.”

In February 2022, Huron Perth’s realtors reported a 30-year low in the supply of homes, while prices jumped 40 percent from 2021.

Horwath’s Homes in Ontario Program (HOP) loans first-time buyers 10 per cent of the purchase price of their home as down payment support. They have the flexibility to buy back the government’s share any time, or repay the loan when they sell their home.

The NDP will work with municipalities to update land-use planning rules to get more middle-class homes built, focusing on starter homes people can afford like townhomes. The NDP will also take on speculators with actions like a new non-resident speculation tax to prevent outside investors from buying up swaths of homes as investment properties, leaving everyday buyers to fight over what’s left.

“Doug Ford has let housing prices fly right out of control — making his buddies happy, but hurting regular people. And we can’t trust the Wynne and Del Duca Liberals to fix what they helped break,” said Jo-Dee Burbach, the NDP candidate for Perth-Wellington.

“But there are things we can do to start to get first-time buyers, renters and the next generation back on solid ground, so they can build their best lives right here. In Perth-Wellington, we want our kids to stay, build their careers here, and raise their own families here. I’m proud of the fact that the NDP has a plan to finally start to fix the housing crisis.”

Quotes

Winona Sands, Stratford resident from Walpole Island First Nation
“We want a place where we can have the grandkids over, where they can play and we can watch them. But a two-bedroom apartment isn’t big enough for that. We just cannot afford to buy a home here in Stratford, so we are looking at a 12-hour drive for a decent affordable land and home in Northern Ontario.”

Background

• As part of the broader Homes You Can Afford: The Ontario NDP’s Plan for Housing, the Homes in Ontario Program (HOP) would provide first-time home buyers with household incomes under $200,000 access to home equity loans of up to 10 per cent to help with their down payment. Homeowners would then have the flexibility to buy back the government’s share or repay the loan only if and when they move and sell their home.
• The NDP will create a revenue-neutral fund to finance repayable loans as a part of the HOP. That fund will be self-sustaining. Gains in the fund over time will be used to maintain the fund.
• To take on speculators and cool the market, the NDP will increase the Non-Resident Speculation Tax from 15 to 20 per cent, expand the tax to apply everywhere in Ontario, and introduce an annual speculation and vacancy tax on residential property, among other measures. The NDP will also reign in pre-construction condo flipping and regulate short-term rentals.
• Horwath’s platform also closes those loopholes that let some wealthy speculators off the hook, and enforces new non-resident speculation taxes to discourage large corporations from buying up swaths of homes.
• The NDP’s plan also helps 311,000 households province-wide pay the rent with direct financial support, and builds 69,000 affordable homes plus 30,000 homes with supports.
• The NDP’s plan includes a commitment to build a by-Indigenous for-Indigenous housing strategy.
• An Ontario NDP government will work with municipalities to update land use planning rules to spur new missing-middle construction —like starter homes. The NDP will also create a new Residents’ Rights Act to make it easier for homeowners to convert an unused garage, basement or floor of their home into an affordable rental home.