Heather Wright/The Independent

There is a very large gap between what first-time homebuyers think they should pay for a home and the amount they’ll have to pay to get that house.

That’s according to a new study done for the County of Lambton as it prepares a new homelessness and housing strategy.

Frazier Fathers, Senior Housing Policy Consultant of TWC Housing Consultants, told Lambton County councillors May 6, residents told them “a fair price for an average starter home was $215,000” however with the average two-bedroom home around $566,964, Fathers says that home is only affordable for people making over $118,000 a year. Affordable is defined as spending 30 per cent of your income on housing.

“Rental affordablity has been an issue,” he added. The people who TWC interviewed said a fair rent would be $800 but the actual average is $1,200.

If a low-income renter in Lambton wanted to get into the housing market today, it could take over two decades to come up with a 20 per cent down payment for that $566,964 house, Fathers said.

“There are certainly homes in Lambton for sale for less than that number but there is a major gap there …and the gap for renters to become owners is a significant challenge,” he says.

If you make $44,467 a year and can save 10 per cent of your income each year, Fathers says it will take 24.7 years to save up a 20 per cent down payment for the average two-bedroom home.

If you make $255,332 a year, it will take four years.

“There is a gap in opportunity of affordability in the community based on the high rents chewing up more and more proportions of income making it harder to make that jump from rental to home ownership,” the consultant told council.

The report also points out Ontario Ministry of Finance Population projections shows Lambton will need 3,600 additional housing units in less than 10 years, even more, Fathers said, if the county wants to “restore affordability.”

The consultants estimated 75 per cent of housing will be constructed in Sarnia, Lambton Shores and St Clair Township.

The study recommends, in part, that the county continue to lobby upper levels of government for funding to increase the amount of affordable housing in the community and continue to offer incentives to drive more housing starts.

The report will be used to help form the county’s next steps for housing and homelessness.