Many Canadians are hoping the federal and provincial governments hold true to their promise to make new homes more affordable. “It’s scary because it’s very expensive and it’s hard to save money these days for at least a five percent down payment if you are buying like a half million-dollar house,” says Meeth Patel, who just moved to Orillia. Government leaders gathered in the sunshine city this morning to announce that Ottawa and the province are providing the city of Orillia with up to $11.3 million through the Development Charge Reduction program. “Development charges help communities pay for the infrastructure growing communities need, but they also add to the cost of a new home,” says Graydon Smith, the Associate Minister of municipal affairs and housing. “Through this program we are helping municipalities like Orillia reduce those costs,” Smith says. The city is getting the funding because it has been able to reduce its residential development charges from 30 to 50 per cent on all housing types for the next three years. The government says the plan is to make building new homes more affordable. Friday’s announcement is just the latest for the program in our region. In September, Barrie got more than $129 million and in August, Bradford got nearly $95 million. Orillia says the new moves could help save builders almost $16,000 per home. That, combined with HST relief on eligible new homes, could save some homebuyers nearly $145,000 on a new home. “It’s a huge deal,” says Don McIssac, Orillia Mayor. McIssac tells CTV News Orillia’s development costs are some of the lowest in the province, at about $30,000, but this reduces them by about $15,000. “Which is a huge amount of money for people trying to get into a house. So it makes accessing a house easier, it gets us to build more houses faster,” says the mayor. The city of Orillia estimates the construction cost savings over the development charge reduction could help unlock more than two thousand new homes.
