Clarington has been ranked number one among Durham Region municipalities when looking at certain factors that affect home affordability, according to a municipal statement.
A new Building Industry Land Development Association (BILD) municipal benchmarking study released in September compares the building and development process among 18 Greater Toronto Area municipalities, including the approval process for new housing development.
“The news is great for Clarington. In addition to leading the pack in Durham, the municipality ranked fourth-best overall in three categories, including planning features, municipal charges and approval times, all factors that affect overall home affordability,” the statement said.
It also pointed out that Clarington has some of the lowest development charge fees in the GTA.
The report also looks at the estimated staff time allocated throughout the development process, looking at 1,000 new homes. The average across the GTA is 75.1 per 1,000 housing starts. Clarington ranks fifth-lowest overall and the lowest in Durham Region, with 57 employees dedicated per 1,000 housing starts.
Clarington’s approval times are almost twice as fast compared to the three municipalities with lower employees dedicated per 1,000 housing starts. The other Durham-area municipalities that participated in this study were Whitby, Oshawa and Pickering, the statement said.
Report PSD-047-20 provides an overview of the study and how Clarington compares.