A report issued to Kitchener City Council on January 27 identifies a number of large gaps between housing supply and demand in the city.

Specifically, the City of Kitchener Housing Needs Assessment 2020 report identifies the need for more than 9,000 affordable and rental housing units for people with annual household incomes under $63,000, as well as 3,000 new community housing units.

The report was prepared by city staff and looks into the state of housing needs across a number of city demographics and types of housing.

It indicates, for example, that, “the median home price within the Kitchener market area has increased over 50% over the last four years and the average apartment rent has increased approximately 20%—both of which are above the of rate inflation.”

Affordability, it goes on to say, is particularly problematic given the city’s low rental vacancy rate of just 2.2 percent, and most significantly affects such groups as students, recent immigrants, single parents and seniors (the population of which is expected to nearly double by 2041).

Part of Kitchener’s problem is its success. The city’s business base is growing, which is bringing in talent from elsewhere in the province. Compounding the challenge is that many people who work in the Greater Toronto Area see Kitchener as an affordable and convenient place to live. Such pressures, says the report, “are driving prices up, and all forms of housing are becoming unattainable for many.”

Existing residents are increasingly being left out in the cold as housing markets cater to new arrivals. The report shows that incomes in the city are not keeping pace with increasing rental prices and housing prices. From 2009 to 2019, inflation in the city increased by 18 percent, average rents by 41 percent and average house prices by 104 percent. Most of the housing price increases occurred between 2016 and 2019.

The report also looks at trends in visible homelessness and existing community housing. While the scope of the former is difficult to accurately judge, survey data and shelter use suggest that the city needs between 250 to 750 supportive housing units to meet existing demand. It also recommends the city increase its community housing stock by an extra 3,000 units to accommodate as many households that are on the city’s community housing wait list.

The city has said it will use the report as the basis for creating an affordable housing strategy, and that its next steps will be to, “identifying issues, options and clear actions.”