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Housing Choice & Affordability

Zoning Bylaw Recap Series: Housing Choice & Affordability

There’s been lots of talk on housing affordability, rightfully so. Let’s review some information on how the new Zoning Bylaw impacts housing choice and affordability. 


Housing affordability is a pressing issue in cities across Canada and Edmonton is not immune, though right now in Canada we are the most affordable major city. Many factors are beyond the City’s control such as market demands, cost of building materials and labour, and changes in mortgage interest rates. Zoning is one factor that the city controls that can influence housing choice, supply, and ultimately affordability. 


Here are some ways zoning can impact housing choice & affordability: 

  1. Diverse Housing Options


The new Zoning Bylaw allows a larger variety of forms for housing choice. For example, the new Mixed-Use Zone (residential and commercial on the same lot), and Small Residential (RS) will allow for more housing layouts and unit numbers on the same lot. Meaning, there is a higher likelihood that housing at different price-points can be found across diverse neighborhoods. Some of these will be more expensive and some less expensive than what was previously on that property.   


The new Zoning Bylaw also adds incentives for builds for family-orientated as well as inclusive housing. 

 

2. Streamline Development


They say time is money, and this is the case for building housing too! 


Each zone specifies what is allowed to be built on any given parcel. To build something different means going through the process of rezoning to allow for other building types or uses. The new Zoning Bylaw reduces the number of overall zones and adds zone modifiers which will eliminate obstacles in housing builds and enhance predictability, while still regulating what is important. Faster development timelines and cost reductions can benefit prospective homebuyers. 

3. Promote Density Overtime 


The new Zoning Bylaw is intended to support more efficient building types. Building up rather than out is more sustainable for city services and infrastructure which can ultimately save taxpayers in the long-run. 

4. Land Value 


With the passing of the new Zoning Bylaw, almost all parcels of land in the City will be rezoned to the nearest equivalent zone from the new bylaw. When rezoning a property is done on a case by case basis, sometimes property owners stand to disproportionately benefit and potentially lead to rapid price increases in certain neighbourhoods. This can create economic disparities and housing affordability challenges. In contrast, a city-wide upzoning approach ensures that the impacts of zoning changes are more evenly distributed across the entire city.

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