Homeowners urge Toronto to simplify laneway and garden suite builds

Essentially from here back will be the garden suite. We are giving the garden suite a bit of a backyard. This Toronto couple is planning to build a garden suite in their backyard. But years after the city opened the door to Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, homeowners and builders say there are some challenging realities. Construction costs, finding financing, and a permit process that can be difficult to navigate. Permits have taken longer than we had anticipated, that's because of the additional scrutiny. A big one is just aligning the permitting process with these new buildings. Techniques like the newer modernized building techniques and then lending has been quite an issue where the banks and lenders have to catch up with the new policies. The couple chose to go with a newer building method called panelized construction. The method is supposed to make it easier to transport materials to tight lots. And while that saves time during construction, the couple says it resulted in a longer permit process with the city. A hurdle Prefab Builds Canada is also coming up against. The City of Toronto has come a long way to be able to enable us to build ADUs, which is excellent. The trouble we're having at this point is that we want to start to build in a prefab way. Prefab has a misnomer. There's a modular and there's a panelization. So there's different technologies behind it. So I guess it's making the municipalities and engineers more aware of what the differences are between the two. So even the interior walls, exterior walls, everything come in chunks. Datani says their projects meet Ontario building code, but municipal approvals have not yet fully adapted to these newer construction techniques. So hopefully working with the cities closely enough so that, say, engineers come over, let's see what you're doing, let's see what you want us to do, and let's create a flow, a workflow, which is just so much more efficient. Back in 2018, Toronto's laneway and garden suites were touted as an initiative that could help address the housing crisis, creating new homes in established neighbourhoods while giving homeowners an opportunity to generate rental income or accommodate family members. The city of Toronto says 755 garden and laneway suites are currently under construction and 627 permits have been closed. It's not nothing, but it's not solving the housing crisis. We need thousands and thousands of units. We would need an industry to scale up in a way that is immense. The original enthusiasm in Toronto centered on filling what planners call the missing middle housing options between high-rise condos and suburban development. But Matty Simiaticki says ADUs can only play a small role. Yeah, the accessory dwelling units. are part of the solution, but they're not going to be inherently affordable housing. These are expensive units, and as the market is down right now, it's going to be even harder to finance them and for people to come forward to build them for rental purpose. Homeowners and builders also say government financial incentives could help boost the number of builds. For its part, the city says it recognizes the need for more housing options and says eligible suites may qualify for development charge exemptions or deferrals. And that pre-approved building plans are available to reduce design costs and simplify permitting. It also says where a proposed system differs from the building code's prescribed solutions, additional technical documentation may be required to demonstrate compliance. Despite the long and sometimes tedious process, these homeowners plan to see their project through to the end. There are more going up. I know it was a really slow start. There are more going up. I think it's just... Trying to make it a little easier for people to get them built. Talia Ricci, CBC News, Toronto.