We Don’t Have a Units Shortage. We Have a Homes Shortage.
It’s that time of year again. The sun is back, patios are opening and summer is around the corner. Even if you don’t love the heat, there’s something about sitting outside with a cold drink and good company.
And when you’re thirsty, it has to be the right drink because not all drinks are created equal.
The same is true for housing. Not all units are created equal.
When we talk about fixing the housing crisis, the conversation almost always comes down to numbers. How many units do we need? How many can we build? How quickly can we deliver them? It’s framed as a simple supply-and-demand problem.
That framing isn’t wrong. Waterloo Region needs more housing. Rents have climbed sharply in recent years, with average one-bedroom rents now sitting above $1,500 and still rising. Vacancy is tight. More people are competing for fewer options.
But the idea that any new supply will solve the problem is where things start to fall apart.
Because not all supply is equal. And not all supply is useful.
A growing share of what gets built is small, investor-oriented product. One-bedroom units. Compact layouts. Designed to hit a price point, not necessarily to meet how people actually live.
On paper, they add to supply. In reality, they don’t always add up to something people can build a life in.
I was reminded of this recently while speaking with about 60 planning students at the University of Waterloo about housing and the work we’re doing through BUILD NOW. Out of that group, only two or three said they would consider buying a one-bedroom condo.
That’s a small detail, but it says a lot.
These are exactly the people those units are meant for, in their early 20s with no kids and just starting out. If there were a natural market for one-bedroom condos, this would be it.
But they weren’t interested.
That tells us something important. Housing decisions aren’t just about affordability in a narrow sense. They’re about livability. Flexibility. The ability to see yourself in a space for more than a short period of time.
People are thinking about working from home, about future partners and about not having to move again in two years.
A one-bedroom unit might technically meet someone’s housing need. But it doesn’t necessarily meet their idea of a home.
And the market is starting to reflect that mismatch. Smaller units are sitting longer, fewer are being planned and prices in some segments are beginning to soften, even as pressure remains intense elsewhere, particularly for family-sized housing and ground-oriented options.
That should tell us something.
If we continue to treat all units as interchangeable, we’ll keep missing the mark. We’ll keep adding supply that doesn’t relieve pressure where it’s needed most.
If we actually want to address the housing crisis, we need to be more precise, intentional and honest about the difference between a unit and a home.
Because a unit is a number, but a home is something people can build a life in.
And that’s what’s actually in short supply.
-Philip Mills
Philip Mills, CEO Habitat Waterloo Region
