Social housing: Developers pay the fee
Developers putting up big buildings routinely pay compensation to the city to get out of the requirement to include social or “affordable” housing, and this has been going on since the Tremblay administration first made the rule in 2005. This is the first of three articles Le Devoir is doing on the subject.
steph 10:48 on 2021-10-12 Permalink
It’s time we revisit the fines. If they were punitively unafforable for the developers, the social housing would get built as intended.
SMD 11:37 on 2021-10-12 Permalink
Seriously. The amount they gave in compensation covered a mere 5% of the units they were supposed to build. Clearly a better deal for them to pay a small amount and walk away.
Ephraim 12:46 on 2021-10-12 Permalink
Silly way to do it. Simply put it as a percentage of the property if the developer pays it at the start of the project based on the value of the apartments being sold. Or twice that amount if they sell the apartments for more than they stipulated, or they don’t pay it and it’s paid at the time of the emission of the occupancy certificate.
Tim S. 16:57 on 2021-10-12 Permalink
Or, make it a perpetual tax on the unit, which might push the value down and hurt sales. That might get the developers’ attention.