What A New Conservative Government of Ontario Means For Real Estate

Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party won a decisive majority government last week

Doug Ford Hands Liberal Party It’s Worst Loss In Years

Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party won a decisive majority government last week, winning 76 out of 124 seats in the Legislature and ending 15 years of Liberal rule. Kathleen Wynne’s governing party lost 48 seats and official party status in the Legislature. It was the worst loss for a governing party in Ontario history and the first time the Liberals ever lost official party status. The last time the Government of Ontario changed was in 2003, Doug Ford’s win is the fifth time this has happened since the end of WW2. With the election over, the challenge of governing will now fall to Premier Ford and those close to him. This blog will analyze the effects of a PC majority government on real estate.

Market, Not Public Forces, Will Prevail

The PCs did not release a fully costed platform with significant detail but consistently voiced a preference to letting the free market sort out housing shortages and real estate matters. Unlike the Liberals and the NDP, the PCs did not show much interest in investing considerable public money into building affordable housing units.

The PC platform states that a PC government will maintain the rent control provisions the Liberal government has introduced. The PCs also mention stimulating the market to increase the supply of affordable housing across the GTA. The Greenbelt is also to be preserved in its entirety.

The PCs are likely to reduce regulation and red tape, simplify permitting for housing construction for developers, and promote both urban densification and suburban sprawl. Taxes on business and developers and trades will fall. Developers and construction companies have generally amicable relations with the PCs and Liberal parties. Former Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak is now the President and CEO of the OREA, the Ontario Real Estate Association.

Throughout the campaign, Doug Ford voiced his desire to scrap the foreign buyer tax and not to introduce a broad Speculation Tax the NDP outlined in their agenda. The new Premier and Government will face many challenges, but the demand for housing and high prices will likely see them introduce a comprehensive agenda to spur market forces.

Ontario Election Predictions And Real Estate Implications

 

Housing Is One Of The Biggest Issues In The Upcoming Ontario Elections 

With the middle class increasingly squeezed out of the housing market, government intervention will be increasingly called for and more and more political capital will be tied up in ‘resolving’ real estate issues. Whichever party wins Ontario’s 2018 election and forms government will grapple with growing discontent and increasing expectations from an electorate focused on housing issues. On the one hand, there are equity affluent baby boomers content with the status quo, and millennials and generation Xers struggling with low supply, high costs, and stringent demands desiring systemic change. Here’s Tembo’s analysis on how party’s would handle real estate if they win.

PC: A PC government under Doug Ford would likely focus on supply side reforms, incentivizing and encouraging developers to build more housing. Permitting and regulatory processes would likely be streamlined, more land would be freed up for development, and financial incentives and corporate welfare to housing builders would not be out of the question. Funding for affordable housing is not expressly cited as a priority for the PCs and never has been. The PCs philosophically believe that affordable housing is not a prudent use of resources and that the market can solve the supply and price problems.

NDP: The NDP have released a platform which heavily focuses on investing in affordable housing. Close collaboration with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals on meeting a national affordable housing plan’s targets would likely be sought out. The NDP would also take a greater hand in mandating certain types of development, increasing tenant rights, and spurring densification. This would have certain short-term benefits but would also irk developers who would likely hold back on investment and see profits decreased. The last NDP government under Bob Rae built affordable housing spaces across the province, in rural and urban communities.

Liberals: A centrist approach would continue, with the government occasionally increasing involvement significantly and intervening (foreign buyers tax), with nods to the private sector and developers in balance. As the Liberal party and NDP are largely competing for the same pool of voters, the long term implications of a re-elected Liberal government would see an approach to real estate that would lean to more government intervention over the long term.