Simcoe County Council looking into new housing affordability plan

Barrie -

Simcoe County Council looked into the ongoing issue of affordable housing Tuesday.

With the recent surge in fuel and food prices, wallets for housing costs are stretched thin across the region.

According to the province, in the past 10 years, housing prices have nearly tripled.

"We have to give this generation and the generation behind us some hope," says Innisfil Deputy Mayor Daniel Davidson.

As the County nears the end of its 10-year affordable housing and prevention strategy, Davidson suggests some ideas that will be key in moving forward.

"Reducing red tape for developers, changing attitudes around intensification and funding from the province," he says.

So far, the County says it reached 94 per cent of its goal to create more than 2,500 new affordable units by 2024, including a mix of secondary suites, housing allowances and affordable rental developments.

"We have recently completed builds in Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Victoria Harbour and are very happy to be building up to 230 new units in Orillia, Bradford and Barrie," says Social Housing Director Arfona Zwiers.

County Warden George Cornell says prices continue to be out of reach.

"We have looked through our economic development, talking to our businesses, there is lots of opportunity in the county of Simcoe, one of the challenges is that young families just can't afford a house," says Cornell.

Simcoe County Council is now looking at the 55 recommendations from an Ontario housing affordability task force report.

A report is expected to come before council in the coming weeks to help shape its next 10-year housing affordability strategy.