Nearly 4,000 new housing units will be needed in Sarnia-Lambton over the next 10 years.
That's according to findings from Tim Welch Consulting.
The housing research, planning, and development firm recently conducted a housing needs assessment that will be part of a new housing and homelessness plan going before Lambton County Council in June.
President Tim Welch said the study is a building block for future planning.
"As part of the work done in preparing the assessment, there was both a survey of community residents and an interview with a range of stakeholders and different service providers," said Welch. "We had a very good in-depth session with municipal planners from across the county and of course a very deep dive into a lot of data to help produce the assessment."
Senior Housing Policy Constultant Frazier Fathers said the study determined there are about 700 suppressed households across the county. That includes residents who want to have their own home, but can't afford to.
"So those may be adult children living with their parents, it could be folks who have roommates who would rather live on their own, etcetera and so forth," he said.
The study also found that to meet local needs, Sarnia-Lambton will need an additional 3,600 housing units by 2035.
"To restore affordability though, you would have to go above and beyond that number," said Fathers. "We estimate about 700 suppressed households in the community right now, well that's latent demand in the community. So, if you were to build 3,600 plus 700, you would actually unlock the broader affordability within the community, and all those people who want to get into the housing market, in theory would be able to."
It's estimated that 75 per cent of housing will be built in Sarnia, St. Clair Township, and Lambton Shores.
Fathers adds there are almost 5,000 homes across the county that are considered non-permanent, such as cottages, cabins, and other seasonal dwellings.
"Some work that we've done in other communities, is exploring how could some of that non-regular habitation be brought back into the regular rental or housing market, to access and create additional units to increase affordability."
Findings from study are available on the County of Lambton's website.
