[URBAN NOTE] "Growth plan fuelling GTA housing prices, developers told"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski reports on an unsurprising argument.

A leading Canadian economist is adding his voice to those who argue that the Ontario government's growth plan is largely to blame for pricing homes beyond the reach of many buyers.

Land supply restrictions resulting from the plan called, Places to Grow, is "the number one reason GTA house prices are rising," said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist for CIBC World Markets.

It is restricting the supply of land, "making things very difficult when it comes to housing," he told a meeting of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) in Vaughan.

"Affordability and Places to Grow cannot co-exist," Tal said on Thursday.

If the government increases its intensification targets —something that the province is considering in its update to the growth plan expected next year — it is going to present major difficulties to municipalities.

But the likelihood of Queen's Park changing the growth plan "is zero," Tal added.