07/08/2026
Could you afford to buy your own home in Stratford today?
A detached home now runs around half a million dollars. Even if you had the down payment saved, could you afford that? Put a solid 20% down and the mortgage alone runs somewhere around $2,300 a month, and the property taxes on a home like that add close to $5,700 a year.
And if you don't own but you'd like to, I'd guess it's affordability holding you back.
Stratford is updating its Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw right now. It can't force anyone to lower their price, but it does decide what kinds of homes are allowed to get built, and that has a lot to do with what you can afford. A townhouse sells for well over a hundred thousand dollars less than a detached house, and a stacked townhouse or a small apartment cheaper still. They're easier to maintain, too. That's the kind of home a young person can actually buy into, or an older neighbour can move to when the big house gets to be too much.
We don't see many of them for a simple reason, in most of Stratford you're not allowed to build them, a single detached house is about all that's allowed. The new plan could change that, and it's town council who makes the call.
Without these forms of housing, older people get stuck in large houses they cannot maintain, and young people are forced to live with their parents, or to leave Stratford to find something they can afford. A healthy housing supply should be diverse, offering all forms of housing so everyone's needs can be met.
I won't pretend zoning on its own fixes affordability. But if you'd like a real shot at owning a home here, now's the time to say so. The town is taking feedback until July 12th, at shape.townofstratford.ca/projects/official-plan or by email at [email protected].
What do you think?