Housing Affordability in Lincoln
Everyone should have access to housing that is suitable, adequate, meets their special needs and is affordable.
However, communities across Ontario are facing a housing crisis, and the Town of Lincoln is no exception. Housing is a key determinant of health, and it provides a foundation to actively participate in the community.
Recent housing construction in Lincoln has been almost entirely in the form of ownership housing and the availability of rental housing has decreased. Having an adequate supply of all forms of housing, including purpose-built rental accommodation provides the flexibility to address the needs of low-and moderate-income households in the community.
In keeping with the 2019 – 2022 Council Priorities, Lincoln recognizes the importance of facilitating housing that is affordable and accessible in order to meet the needs of its current and future residents.
Affordable housing is a priority in Lincoln and is currently addressed in the Official Plan, Secondary Plans, Council’s Priorities, and the Community Improvement Plan financial incentives review.
Public Consultation
Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey and shared their thoughts in our Forum.
We will continue to keep you up-to-date on this project through this Speak Up Lincoln page.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the project leads noted at the right of this page.
Current Affordable Housing Actions
Identifying and delivering on affordable housing solutions is a priority for this term of Council. To date the Town has taken the following actions to support the provision of affordable housing;
- The creation of a Housing and Homelessness Community Partnership Advisory Committee.
- The adoption of core housing needs targets
- Incorporating affordable housing as a focus area in the update of the Town’s Community Improvement Plans.
- Approval by Council of a new Town’s Zoning By-law to expand the permissions for secondary dwelling units.
- Updating the Town’s Official Plan and Zoning By-law provisions for Garden Suites.
Affordable Housing
Affordable Housing which is also defined as attainable housing means:
- In the case of ownership housing, the least expensive of:
- Housing for which the purchase price results in annual accommodation costs which do not exceed 30 percent of gross annual household income for low and moderate-income households; or
- Housing for which the purchase price is at least 10 percent below the average purchase price of a resale unit in the regional market area
- In the case of rental housing, the least expensive of:
- A unit for which the rent does not exceed 30 percent of gross annual household income for low-and-moderate income households; or
- A unit for which the rent is at or below the average market rent of a unit in the regional market area as defined by the Region of Niagara and/or
- Has received funding through Regional, Provincial and/or Federal attainable housing programs.
- For the purposes of the definition of attainable ownership housing, the maximum purchase price for ownership housing and the maximum monthly rent is established each year by the Region of Niagara. For 2021, the maximum purchase price to be considered as attainable is $468,166. For 2021, the maximum monthly rent is based on the maximum average monthly rent (AMR) in the regional market area. For 2021, the maximum rents to be considered attainable are as follows:
| Area | Studio | One Bedroom | Two Bedroom | Three Bedroom | Four Bedroom |
| Regional Municipality of Niagara - ARM | $806 | $1,011 | $1,190 | $1,262 | Not Reported |
Basement Apartment
For information on legalizing an existing secondary unit such as a basement apartment please contact the Planning and Development Department for information on zoning regulations and building permit requirements.
Housing and Homelessness, Community Partnership Advisory Committee
The Housing and Homelessness Community Partnership Advisory Committee provides Council with recommendations on policy and municipal actions that will encourage an increase in the supply of diverse market, co-op and non-profit rental and ownership housing options for low and moderate-income households. Although Niagara Region has the overall legislated responsibility for affordable housing, it does not control local strategies such as zoning or municipal incentive programs related to affordable housing. The Committee will recommend initiatives to Council that will enable an increase in the supply of affordable housing in the community.
The Housing Affordability in Lincoln page has listed that based on the definition of attainable ownership housing, the maximum house price in our area should be $468,166, and the maximum rental price for a 1 bedroom should be $1,011. When searching for local housing, there are no available 1 bedroom apartments for less than $1600 (with most being well over this price) and the average home price in Beamsville is now nearly $975,000. Less than five years ago, houses in the area were easily found for $300-500,000.
I was born and raised in Beamsville, and always dreamed of coming back home after university to buy a house and settle down, but at these rates, that is beyond attainable. My husband and I both work stable full-time jobs and have no debt, but even so, are beyond priced out. Beamsville also continues to build more and more condos, tightly packed subdivisions of attached houses, and massive houses, failing to recognize that people live in Niagara because they want a small parcel of land to enjoy that's affordable. My husband and I are childless, and it seems like our only options are renting a condo, which is not what every childless couple want.
Beamsville has a serious housing crisis and is not seeming to do much about it, focused only on developing more and more without considering affordable housing, or whether or not our current services, infrastructure, or amenities can accommodate this
Every build should include some affordable housing rather than low income builds where everyone lives together and struggles together. If you disperse low income families within subdivisions and apartment buildings the higher income people will help those who need help include them in activities etc.
A simple and generally accepted definition of affordable housing is housing that takes 30% of one's gross income. To me it assumes that housing is in the form of a rental unit, not ownership. In other words, units that are rent geared to income. Ideally they would be provided by funding from all levels of government and not the private sector. Access to any affordable housing units must be provided through a means test where only the most needy have access to this type of housing.