Original post on Steve’s Councillor Ward 2 Facebook page, June 23, 2025

On the Agenda for the Council meeting June 24, 2025: Housing Needs.

We definitely need to find ways to ensure that sufficient housing is available, and that the right mix of housing types¹ is available for our residents now, and in the future. This is one of the biggest challenges that faces the County of Brant (and other communities).

At this Council meeting we saw a presentation then discussed the Housing Needs Assessment report we received from County Staff that includes a Strategic Response with a 10-year implementation plan (2025-2035).

One of the specific challenges that we have to overcome is: while our community continues to grow, we need to find ways to make sure that Developers are building more of the types of homes we need, not just what is the most profitable for them.

Some important facts highlighted in this report:

• Our existing housing supply in the County is 85% Low-density.
• To meet the County’s housing needs by 2035, we’ll need 2,455 housing units, with 28% of those units affordable.
• The housing approved (but unbuilt) consists of 7,700 units: 53% Low-density, 18% Medium-density and 29% High-density. This is more than enough in terms of quantity, but the mix of housing types is insufficient to meet our needs.

In my opinion, we need to find ways to deliver (and incentivize others to build) more modest housing options so that young people starting out, families who are struggling and seniors who want to downsize can all find housing that suits their needs – including options that are smaller, less fancy, and more affordable – within the community that they love.

I encourage you to review the Roadmap to Housing Needs in Brant presentation slides for the Staff report (RPT-025-25) below, and to read the full Staff Report (below the presentation slides).

Read the full Staff report Housing Needs Assessment – Final Report and Strategic Roadmap (RPT-0252-25) below.

The Staff Report above refers to the Housing Needs Assessment report that was completed for the County of Brant by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. Read the Watson & Associates report below.

1. Housing types:
   Low-density: single and semi-detached homes
   Medium-density: townhouses
   High density: apartments, additional residential units (ARUs) ↩︎

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