Is 'war-time' housing a solution to Canada's crisis? | About That

The federal government is reviving a war-time plan for pre-approved home designs to accelerate building across the country. Andrew Chang breaks down why it takes so long to build housing in Canada, and whether a new version of the plan could help.

#housing #costofliving

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[juditharnott]

I grew up in a "wartime housing" home and had a great life. It is still standing in GOOD SHAPE after 70 years!

[johnwelshmusic]

The red tape at the municipal level is insane and gone on way too long . I have experienced it first hand even with proper zoning the back and forth with building permits etc it's almost like some city departments see it as their job to slow or stop development instead of facilitate it. Without a heavy handed approach from federal and provincial levels nothing will change since municipalities are also subject to NIMBYs and are concerned to upset the apple cart. For the sake of the younger generation we need to override the Boomer/NIMBY pandering municipalities.

[feyonx]

Andrew is phenomenal. Even with a politically charged topic like housing he tackles the story with professionalism and attention to detail.

[ericsharma]

this my 2nd video i watched from this guy,
smart, articulate and delivers the points effectively - i love this and we need more of him

[mrdanforth]

I knew an old truck driver who delivered these prefab houses during the war. When he started they could deliver a whole house with two five ton trucks. Later they added a trailer and delivered a whole house with one five ton truck. They were erected on narrow lots with a common driveway in between, in some areas, on larger lots in other areas. The ones around here are 1 1/2 storey with a living room, kitchen and bathroom on the ground floor and 2 bedrooms upstairs. They were originally heated with an oil stove in the living room.
During the war they were rented to war workers, after the war they were sold off for $2500. Imagine buying a house and lot, even a small one for $2500.
There are lots of them around here 80 years later. All are nice neighborhoods, they are well maintained and improved, some with additions, all have new siding, roofs, heating systems etc added over the years by different owners.
I have often thought this project could be a model for new low cost housing.

[urallnutz]

So in other words, society is perfectly capable of putting 4 walls and a roof together cheaply and quickly, it's just blocked to inflate house prices like diamonds and get everyone into a mortgage

[jamesbruce]

Government loan guarantee's on these new cheaper homes, build a bunch of homes under or at 150, 000 to 175, 000 to purchase and limit the sale to just first time home buyers that only need 5 % down with a stable interest rate. You would solve the problem with in 5 years and stabilize the market by bringing all homes down to more reasonable prices for the rest of the people not first time home buying. The entry to home ownership when my wife and I bought our first home was 5% down and our home only cost 90, 000 25 years ago. Most people we knew had little problem in finding homes at reasonable prices and interest rates that were sustainable. The key is to not let developers make the rules or your just going to get more 3000, 000 condos.

[BigSlimyBlob]

This would be wonderful. I would have had a small energy-efficient home built for myself a few years ago if I could have, but almost everywhere, it's illegal to build them. So instead of building a new home I had to buy an existing one, one that I didn't even really want because it was too big, too old and too inefficient. Can you imagine how many more homes there would be right now if building sensible housing were legal?

[ADavid]

there's also the problem of many many homes and apartments presently vacant, but 'reserved' for high-paying tourists and speculators.

[Ubernewb]

the solution is stop letting foreign investors buy up all the properties.

like i dont see how this is legal at all, housing isnt some sort of commodity, adequate shelter is a necessity and shouldnt be traded on the open market so some billionaire can expand his portfolio while residents go homeless

[bmir]

Tried to build a very small house on a piece of land I own for a family member 2 years ago (we also live in a rural area, not even a city).

Forget the permits... it took 8 months just to get a survey.

Fast forward another 8 months after that and the project was still being held up due to internal disputes regarding zoning laws (the municipality was having with itself)

After about a year and a half we just gave up due to the beurocratic nonsense and redtape.

[Cookontherun]

Our home is an Eatons Catalogue home from the 1920’s. Several different styles were available. The plans were $2.50 at the time. Everything was shipped by train. The whole house. All of the fittings including appliances, door handles, lights etc were ordered through the catalogue. It’s a beautiful home 100 years later that also survived being moved from its original location. Wartime homes would be an excellent opportunity for housing if they are pre approved designs.

[pipedevnull]

I used to live near veteran houses. I think they're great. They were expensive in Ottawa because they were rare. They've also lasted since WWII.

[bryankerr]

I was listening to NEWSTALK 1010 a few days ago when they discussed this. A Toronto area architect called in and told John Moore that architects already have files of pre-approved designs, and that even for a large sized development, the cost of getting these designs from an architect are a tiny fraction of the overall costs to developers. He seemed pretty certain this is not what holds up the construction of housing.

[TrapperBV]

One thing that’s left out is the NIMBY effect. The level home owners go to retain every drop of equity is insane and many have borrowed against most of the homes value. Not only will they not want to look at these homes but will directly oppose them.

That’s not to dump on the idea as a potential solution but is definitely a major hurdle.

[SM-wrnn]

Andrew, I just want to say how much i love "About That." I hope you're able to keep producing these videos. I truly appreciate the work that goes into these. Well done!

[minimaxmiaandme.]

I think it is a great idea, even as a retired person looking to downsize from an 1900 sq ft home, all I could get was a 2 bedroom 2.5 bathroom townhouse....I would have been happy for have a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom....a single person does not need 2.5 bathrooms....impossible to find something young person deserves to have a home and to plan for a family....what has happened to Canadian values? All the new housing near my development is huge million dollar homes for foreigners. My next door neighbours, a nice young couple, had to move out because of their greedy landlord raising their rent up to $2900, come has to stop....bring back rental caps...

[jeremythebeer]

The Building Code is the Building Code... As someone who does CUSTOM homes for a living, the permitting delays come from Zoning (i.e. By-law interpretation). The big developers already have many designs that have been pre-approved; the Government is not helping in this regard. Once approved, the next problem for the Builders is securing materials and finding the tradespeople capable of constructing the building. The larger the project, the bigger the issue.

[adamcraft]

I live in the former East Berlin now and while most haven’t aged well, the Platenbau buildings that were pioneered here in the 60s-80s might be a good solution. The Modular concrete design is so innovative, and I’m sure it could be modernized and adapted to the Canadian market.

[solarwinds]

Lots of great ideas in the comments. I think that innovation and thinking outside the box is sorely needed to solve this problem. How about setting up co-ops, or getting architecture schools involved with contests to propose the most efficient designs? and so on...