TRREB applauds Toronto's move to facilitate more lowrise housing

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) continues to champion the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON) initiative aimed at building more lowrise housing in residential neighbourhoods to meet the needs of our growing city.

“The recent decision by Toronto City Council to allow townhomes and small six-storey residential units with a maximum of 60 units to be built along major roads as-of-right is a big win for housing affordability, says Jennifer Pearce, TRREB president. “Council’s decision builds on a less ambitious original plan to only allow townhomes and small residential units to a maximum of 30 units on the ‘edges of neighbourhoods’ and along some major roads. The expansion of the original plan to build more homes is a momentous decision that will benefit generations of Torontonians.”

Equitable and inclusive

This change will also make Toronto a more equitable and inclusive city by reversing decades of zoning policy that was historically used to prevent the building of more units in existing neighbourhoods, TRREB says.

“For too long, Toronto’s planning policies forced working families and individuals to live on the edges of the city and endure long commutes,” says Pearce. “Council’s decision will help generate more affordable units in every neighbourhood so that people can live closer to where they work and play.”