Housing shortfall, costs and affordability

[tomh009]

A fair point. But I took the liberty of highlighting a key phrase: I think these kinds of scenarios are mostly more of a "want" than "must" have. Yes, it would be good to have housing options for that -- but at the current price levels I don't think they would be affordable anyway. I believe most people choose to have roommates more because of the cost than because of the lack of housing availability.

So, unless the federal and/or provincial governments find a solution to the housing affordability issues, I don't think the region needs to create another 36,000 units beyond the current pace.

I'm confused, are you implying these are not the same thing?

Yes. Single people living with roommates is not unusual in most countries (and I have done it, too, both during and after university). It doesn't mean you are actually homeless. You may not be able to afford a complete house/apartment, or you may simply choose to spend less by sharing one.

And even if you consider all people with roommates to need their own houses/apartments, even so, building 36,000 housing units would not solve the affordability issue. Even if the housing market cools down, construction costs are simply too high for many people.