[some company built] two-bedroom and three-bedroom stacked townhouse units in Toronto, selling for $500,000 on average. The city charged our project the full development charges of $30,000 per unit. At the same time, companies behind luxury condos in the city selling for $1.5-million were also paying $30,000 per unit.
Interesting idea. It doesn’t sound like a silver bullet for the housing crisis, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Land value tax would solve this. If the city doesn’t want oversized units, tax land.
…and get rid of development charges altogether. Why are we punishing homebuilders with more taxes?
Good point, there is a cost for hooking up a new building, but if you build something the taxes on that land will go up and likely recoup the cost.