Independent Report Makes Recommendations on Reducing Barriers to Housing Development

An independent report on barriers to housing development in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) recommends strong action to improve efficiency and increase supply.

Consultant Deloitte Inc. conducted an independent assessment of current barriers, including those at the municipal and provincial levels of government and those related to developers.

Deloitte submitted its final report and recommendations to the HRM Housing Task Force on Tuesday, October 18.

“The HRM Housing Task Force is committed to identifying barriers to development, and we’ve taken some strong immediate first steps over the last year to recommend solutions to the housing crisis and get more stock built in HRM,” said task force Chair Geoff MacLellan. “Before we begin our work on long-term strategies and goals, it was important for the task force to hear advice and ideas from an independent third party to ensure we had a fulsome understanding of the issues from all sides. We appreciate the analysis and advice from Deloitte and will use this report as a guide as we continue our work with our partners to improve the housing situation in our province’s biggest city.”

Deloitte made 15 recommendations aimed at enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of housing development in HRM. Highlights include:

• regulation and zoning changes aimed at increasing density and supporting affordability, such as accelerating the timeline for the revised HRM Regional Plan review and removing parking requirements
• process, organization and governance changes such as setting up a trusted partner program, reviewing the public engagement process and clarifying the role of Halifax regional council in development decisions
• addressing external factors such as enhancing immigration and training to support the development of skilled trades
• setting up a parallel planning team to support implementation of the recommendations and assist in expediting development approvals and addressing the backlog in housing supply.

The Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the task force will work with HRM on implementing the recommendations.

The report is available at: https://novascotia.ca/housing-panel/ .

Quotes:

“I’ve said from Day 1 that in order to fix the housing crisis and increase stock, it is going to take a willingness to do things differently, strong collaboration from all levels of government, and aggressive action. Deloitte’s recommendations are bold, but they align with much of the work that is already underway with HRM and the housing task force. Some recommendations will take more discussion, but we are committed to working toward implementation.”

– John Lohr, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

“We believe that improving the housing development approval process is a core part of addressing the housing supply shortage we’re experiencing today in HRM. Through extensive stakeholder engagement and a review of initiatives that are increasing housing supply in other jurisdictions, we have developed a set of recommendations that we believe will significantly increase housing development in HRM in the short, medium and long term.”

– Paula Gallagher, partner and Atlantic Public Sector Leader, Deloitte Inc.

Quick Facts:

• in March, the task force recommended the Minister designate nine special planning areas for as many as 22,600 new residential units
• the Province is investing more than $22 million to create more than 370 affordable housing units in the Southdale-Mount Hope special planning area in Dartmouth
• a $2.3-million investment was announced to enable HRM to conduct critical environmental, land-use suitability, transportation and infrastructure studies
• Mr. MacLellan is also the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Additional Resources:

News release – Province Announces Members of Panel on Housing: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20211125002