These units are usually found in the backyard of a property, above garages. They can serve as rental accommodation, or as a private space for a family member.
With housing prices so high, with the lack of rental housing in the city, and with the sandwich generation struggling to care for children and elderly parents, we believe this is a good option we must offer. to the citizens of Toronto
, says Ana Bailao, chair of the City of Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee.
Ana Bailao is the chair of the City of Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee.
Photo: Radio-Canada
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The vote will also launch the drafting of a report detailing the regulations for the construction of small houses. These could include the size of the gardens in which they can be built, the distance between them and a neighbor’s house, or the location of windows.
Their construction is currently prohibited in the city. If the committee chooses to go ahead with public consultation, garden suites could see the light of day in Toronto as early as the second quarter of 2021.
I would love to see them by next summer
, adds Ms. Bailao. We are trying to publish this report in spring 2021
.
A way to go ahead
Permission to build a garden suite would allow Meg Marshall to own a home in Toronto.
Photo: Radio-Canada
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As a childless bachelor in Toronto, Meg Marshall recognizes that it is difficult for members of the millennial generation to buy a property.
Toronto housing prices are astronomical
, she explains. Ms. Marshall lives with her aunt, but plans to start building a garden suite as soon as the city permits. She has already hired experts to identify her land and the availability of sewer pipes.
I would take this as my own project and fund it myself, or take out a mortgage
, she says. It’s a fraction of the cost of buying a new home or a home in Toronto.
It’s just a way for me to move forward.
Michelle Senayah, co-founder and executive director of The Laneway Project, believes the garden suites will provide the City with yet another tool in combating the affordable housing shortage.
Individually, each tool will be just a small piece
, Senayah said, mentioning the arrival of housing in the back streets of Toronto. But together they’ll have an effect
.
With information from Michael Smee
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