The City of Toronto is extending more financial support to help higher-income earners make a down payment on a new home.
Families earning up to $160,000 can now access the city's Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP) after councillors unanimously voted for a city staff proposal.
The proposal to ease qualifications for the HOAP program comes as a persistent housing crisis and the rising cost of living lock many Torontonians out of home ownership.
Before the change, HOAP eligibility was capped for households earning up to $102,000 per year — the 60th percentile of earners. The change will allow households from up to the 80th percentile of earners to receive help for a down payment towards a home purchase.
The move "is a positive step in making homeownership more accessible to a broader range of residents," said Damien Moule, a representative of the More Neighbours Toronto housing advocacy group, in a letter to council.
The proposal was considered by the city’s planning and housing committee last month where it was unanimously approved.
“As Toronto residents continue to struggle with rising inflation and cost of living, it is becoming increasingly difficult even for middle income earners to access the ownership market, including women-led households and those from equity-deserving communities,” the proposal reads.
The city previously considered home ownership affordable when ownership costs were no more than 30 per cent of a household’s earnings.
The new rules pitch an “attainable” tier of HOAP for higher income earners with eligible household incomes and prospective home prices above the “affordable” thresholds already prescribed by the city.
The new rules also include changes to HOAP assistance for non-profit housing ownership.
Non-profit groups like Habitat for Humanity are already exempt from various building charges like planning application and building fees. Now, city officials have proposed extending HOAP incentive packages to non-profit partnerships with private developers, which are currently not eligible.
Ene Underwood, CEO of Habitat for Humanity GTA, said her organization has helped 65 families become homeowners by partnering with private developers over the past six years.
"We have close to 50 other such units firmly secured and have conversations with developers that could lead to 200 or more opportunities in the future," Underwood said in a letter to council.
HOAP was first introduced in 2010. Since its launch, the city said eligible households have received 1,370 down payment loans worth a combined $54.5 million.
That fell well short of the city's goal of helping 400 households per year, staff said.
The city’s proposal highlighted several reasons behind Toronto's low and middle-income home ownership challenges, namely developers who are disinterested in building affordable housing and rising construction costs.
In response to the housing crisis, the City of Toronto has a goal of approving 4,000 affordable ownership homes by 2030.
