County of Brant Council received a report in regards to a new Temporary Rental Grant Pilot Program, during their regular council meeting on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Overall, the program will attempt to get more houses with several bedrooms, available for rent in the short term, by incentivizing developers to turn their unsold inventory into rental units in exchange for a grant.
As stated in a report presented to Council, “the grant would be paid over a period of five years, equal to the amount of the Development Charges [DC] reduction they would have been entitled to if they met the criteria of Rental Housing Development under the Act.”
The initiative comes after preliminary findings from the County’s Housing Needs Assessment outline that the needs for rental housing in the community is not being met.
“The initial housing needs assessment results came back, which noted a dire need for rentals within the county, specifically multi-bedroom rentals,” said Alysha Dyjach, General Manager of Development Services. “Some commentary coming back from some of the councillors in this room indicated that it’s time to potentially get some innovative solutions. What’s before you tonight is not, in any way, a magic bullet. This is a very small, specific response to one, very small issue.”
Not only would the program incentivize more rental units, but it would also help the local construction industry.
According to the report, developers are saying that with fewer people buying homes, it has left them unwilling to continue with their developments due to the fact that the inventory of vacant constructed units is growing.
On top of that, the County’s allocation policy only allows developers to move onto the next phase of a subdivision when 75 per cent of the units in the previous phase are occupied.
“While this approach has helped manage infrastructure capacity, it is also contributing to the pause in construction activity as units remain unsold and unoccupied,” said Dyjach. “The slowdown in construction activity has resulted in a surplus of vacant units for sale, while at the same time creating uncertainty in the local housing construction and job market which could result in job reductions, lower material demand, lower business attraction, and reduce municipal revenue that can be invested in infrastructure and services.”
Within the program, staff are proposing a starting budget of $81,500 based on an initial estimate of 40 three-bedroom units. This would provide a per-unit investment of approximately $2037.50 in the first year.
Staff did mention that because this is a pilot project, they were anticipating that the uptake could be significantly lower than the maximum amount.
“This is a temporary solution. It’s not permanent, and we have no idea on what the uptake might be,” said Dyjach. “What we’re hoping is that this might potentially tip the scales to allow even if it’s just a handful of rentals within our community. Those are rentals which families desperately need right now, who can’t afford a down payment for home.”
Councillor John Peirce congratulated staff for thinking outside of the box, but said it was a bit of a doubled-edged sword.
“There’s nothing in here to indicate that we, as the County, would have any sway as far as the cost of rent would go. So sure, you’ve got a million dollar house there that they can’t sell, so they can rent it, but are they gonna rent it for $4,000 or $5,000 a month that people still can’t afford?” he said. “I think it’s a great idea, don’t get me wrong, but I’m wondering, do we have any skin in the game, so to speak, when it comes to the amount that’s going to be charged for rent? Because it doesn’t help anybody if there’s $3,000 to $5,000/ month houses out there to rent.”
Dyjach responded saying that he was correct, the County would not have any control over the price of rent.
“To be clear, these are not affordable [units]. If they were affordable under what the province declares to be affordable, there would be a 100 per cent DC credit,” she said. “So, these are not affordable, however, they do have to be rented and so if they are so high that there is no market for them, then they would not be eligible for the program.”
While several councillors including Steve Howes, Lukas Oakley, Christine Garneau, and John Bell, commended staff for the innovative solution, Bell wondered if an entire family could be displaced if a developer sold their rental unit.
“I would like to be sure that people that do rent these properties, don’t find that two months into their rental, the developer comes and says, ‘sorry we sold it, so now you’re out,’” he said. “I think there needs to be some reasonable guarantee of tenure for people that use this program, and I think that’s a reasonable quid pro quo from the developers.”
Dyjach said that because these would be private rentals, the County ultimately wouldn’t have any control over the lease agreements, but that staff could make it so that in order to be eligible for the grant, the units have to be rented in 12-month blocks.
Later, Mayor David Bailey said he thought it was a great program.
“I think when people get into these units, they’ll be able to establish some sort of a rental history with the builder, and perhaps be able to buy it later,” he said. “If some people don’t have any history on rentals, this is a good opportunity to have a break and all buy something you’re already living in and familiar with, so I think it’s really great.”
In the end, Council unanimously voted to receive and support the report, approve funding for the project in the amount of $81,500 and directed staff to draft a Temporary Rental Grant agreement.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
