The effect of land use regulations on housing for vulnerable groups

This research aims to understand how zoning and planning documents of partner municipalities can shape the housing needed to support priority groups in their communities. The research team will analyze current regulations and the barriers that may challenge building housing for priority populations.

Project scope and expected outcomes

Land use regulations and housing supply

Municipal zoning and official plans regulate land use, density and building height for every property. However, regulations often become outdated. This makes it harder to effectively estimate and plan housing supply, complicating efforts to address the housing crisis.

This project will analyze current regulations and the barriers that might impede the construction of housing that supports priority populations. These include seniors, young adults, persons experiencing homelessness, persons with disabilities and people experiencing mental health challenges and addictions.

This research is key to informing future regulations as populations continue to grow and housing needs become more diverse. The aim is to be able to identify opportunities for housing supply for priority groups.

What exists and what’s needed

This project team will:

• Review existing zoning and official plan documents for selected municipalities. A literature review will study the needs of diverse groups.
• Develop a standardized data model and input information to populate the model. This will break down the specific parts of the regulations (such as density) into a consistent model that can be used to determine regulations on a parcel level. 
• Analyze the model to identify how many parcels can have specific uses, based on the research conducted. Use other factors such as density to estimate the number of homes that can be created. This will provide stakeholders with insights into housing supply for priority groups.
• Publish and share these results with municipal partners to inform future planning decisions.

Understanding housing supply

A key outcome of this project will be a way for cities to understand their current housing supply. Cities can determine if they have sufficient housing for priority groups and see how regulation changes might affect supply. Cities can use these findings to promote change.

By evaluating the regulations that govern land use, cities have a chance to create more sustainable communities. Sustainable communities incorporate 3 factors — environment, economic and social. Ensuring that the regulations are diverse in their permitted uses and densities meets these 3 factors. They can help reduce environmental impacts, create more inclusive communities and potentially improve the community’s economic wellbeing. This project provides a baseline to identify where this transformation is needed.