The zoning reform movement is making headway north of the border, with Toronto approving two- to four-unit multiplexes, also known as ‘missing middle housing,’ across the city, according to a report by Shawn Jeffords on CBC.
The move is part of a plan to build 285,000 new homes in the next decade to address the city’s rising housing costs. “With the vote, council will change the types of permissions needed to build a multiplex, ensuring property owners who want to build one can now apply for a building permit rather than a much more rigourous approval to change the city's official plan or zoning by-laws.”
“The city is expecting 700,000 new residents by 2051, but with sky-rocketing home and rental prices affordability is already a problem,” Jeffords explains. Councillor Brad Bradford, a supporter of the decision, acknowledged the multiplex rule wouldn’t be a silver bullet solution for the housing crisis, but said that the city needs “1,000 points of innovation.”
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