06-07-2022, 08:43 PM
(06-07-2022, 08:26 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(06-07-2022, 06:35 PM)nms Wrote: Any chance that municipalities can add a percentage levy on new condo sales? Something that would lead to a meaningful pot of money that allowed something to actually happen would be nice. Or maybe something that developers could draw from if they were allowing affordable housing in their developments to offset the costs of "cutting into my God-given right to a profit" or however they pitch it to Council when they beg, cap-in-hand, for a few extra floors on their towers? (sorry for the sarcasm)
Why should this be only on condo sales? Are condo buyers somehow more responsible for our housing issues than single-family house buyers?
Exactly. This would never cut into profits, but it would make the most affordable housing stock in the city (typically condos) even more expensive. High rise condos already have a higher cost per sqft, so the less wealthy purchasing these get less for more. An additional tax would make the imbalance even worse. The lower middle class subsidizing the lower class while the wealthier get off free.
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I also think the image of the greedy profit seeking developer has become a bit of a caricature, and 99% percent of people perpetuating it have 0 clue about the financials of any development. People would be surprised by the number of developments, some even in our region, that turn into financial disasters.
Not saying there isn't a lot of money to be made in development (there is), but it's not as black and white as greedy developers turning on the money printers and then asking for more. Consider also that a large portion of profits go to the banks, investment funds, and wealthy individuals who are financing these projects and not always to the developer. This money may look elsewhere if the risk/reward calculations become unfavourable, and there are already a lot of projects behind the scenes that don't pan out in part because of a lack of funding.