"Community development agreement parameters
are supposed to be reviewed every five years, but
haven't been reviewed in 13 years," Moore says.
"Not only that, but city council also proposed
a $10,000 new development charge in 2013.
Fortunately, the province refused to look at it.
Builders would have had to lay off workers, and it
would have killed new housing."
A robust home-building industry is good for
governments, workers, business and the community,
and Moore says it's time to review the community
development agreement in full detail.
"Our proposal is to do a thorough review to see if
development charges are where they should be.
Right now, approximately 27.75% of a new home
goes to government," he says. "That means if a home
costs $440,000, about $123,000 of the cost of that
home goes to government. No wonder housing is so
expensive. We have to control costs; they can't keep
escalating."
That's something that the home-building industry
and consumers can ill-afford, he says.
"Take Ottawa as an example. While wages there have
doubled over the past number of years, the cost of
housing has tripled due to the fact that government
taxation has gone up so dramatically. Winnipeg is
no different than Ottawa. If housing here is to stay
affordable, we need to come up with a reasonable
proposal to put a hold on expenses."
Moore says the MHBA is looking forward to the
opportunity to do just that through discussions with
a new city council.
"New developments are essentially the golden goose
for the city. They provide the city with revenue through
the property taxes that new homeowners pay," he says.
"Residential construction is a contributor to the city,
not a taker."
'Houses are more affordable here because our
building practices ensure that we have the most
energy efficient homes in all of Canada'
