It’s going to take a community-wide effort to reach Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region’s goal of building 10,000 houses.
But if history is any indicator, the “doers” in the country’s creative capital are up to the task.
And if you ask Philip Mills, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, people in the region are just better at solving problems than most communities.
“There's something unique in Waterloo Region where the idea of all of us coming together to do something interesting and amazing isn't foreign to us,” Mills said.
“We've done that type of thing a lot. I think this is just another iteration of a community coming together to solve the issues that it's facing.”
And the challenges are daunting. Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, along with several community partners, has committed to building 7,000 homes for purchase and another 3,000 for rent by 2030.
They’re calling it the BUILD NOW initiative.
But is it doable in the middle of a housing crisis? Mills says it is.
“We've got a lot of really smart people involved,” Mills said. “More than that, I think we’ve got a lot of people, a lot of energetic doers, who are really good at getting stuff done.”
“For me, it’s more of a point-the-energy situation. Point people in the right direction, and they’ll get things done.”
The BUILD NOW: Waterloo Region partnership taps into the experience and insight of regional not-for-profits, charitable organizations, home builders, construction association members, the business community, and academic institutions to plan and build housing.
Those units – 10,000 units in the next 7 years – will be placed on the market for approximately half-price.
It should come as a relief to the fast-growing region, where population growth exceeds available housing.
And it will come as quite an accomplishment for Mills, who grew up in the area and has seen its development first-hand.
“I don't have to make the case to people why we should be worried about housing, they get it,” Mills said.
“Everybody's experiencing it.”
And with so many people on board with the project, Mills said it’s easier for all of them to get on the same page.
“It helps to get a shared vision and kind of galvanize everybody together, because they all can feel how important this is,” Mills said.
Let’s fight this crisis
Like other communities, Mills said the situation in Waterloo Region – and across the country – is at a crisis level.
In October the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF) released a report saying that home price to income ratios for Waterloo Region continue to be comparable with some of the most expensive cities in the world.
New home and rental unit builds are not keeping pace with population growth, and there is a mismatch in the housing that is available – with expanding households and shrinking spaces.
And one of the main obstacles that BUILD NOW is also one of the first steps in home ownership – the availability of land. The scarcity of developable properties has the potential to slow the groups’ initiative.
“We are talking about a lot of land, we're talking about a lot of houses, we're talking about a lot of money,” Mills said. “So there is going to be a desire to be careful, which is understandable, but we can’t let that caution slow us down.”
The trick will be to find a balance between cautious consideration and decisive action, he said. But even with that balance, it’s critical to get this project moving in the coming months.
“We need to move fast,” Mills said. “We need to be starting and moving now because this crisis is only getting worse.”
It’s also an enormous project with a wide scope, Mills said, which can sometimes scare people away. But Mills said his job is to help keep team members focused on the final goal, which could be one of the biggest initiatives when it’s all said and done.
“When things get big, they get scary,” Mills said. “And different people sometimes want to just take a beat, go a bit slower. But we actually need to be going faster right now.”
One of his greatest fears, Mills said, is that if the project doesn’t hit its targets quickly, 10,000 homes won’t be enough.
“The longer we wait, the more houses we're going to need to build, and the more expensive it becomes,” he said, citing the rising costs of building materials.
“So year over year, the longer we wait, the harder it's going to be to catch up.”
What can you do to contribute?
Everyone can play a role in dealing with the housing crunch, Mills said.
That includes putting a bit of pressure on different levels of government and the region’s leaders to see it through.
“I think the community can push for action,” Mills said. “All the powers that be, everyone from not-for-profits to government organizations all respond to external pressure.”
That’s where Waterloo Region’s collective voice as the creative hub of the country can make a difference.
“If the community can really push for tangible solutions, and say ‘we need this, and we need it now,’ then I think that push can really help.”
For more information on the Build Now project, follow this link.