Housing affordability has become a defining challenge of our time. Across markets, the gap between incomes and homeownership continues to widen, while demand for attainable rental housing far outpaces supply.
So, what precipitated this imbalance?
At its core, housing in general and multi-family developments in particular have become extremely expensive to build and slower to deliver, for reasons that include the escalating costs and fluctuating supply of materials, labor shortages, and the still-powerful aftershocks of a global pandemic. Furthermore, due to lengthy approvals processes, years typically elapse between a large-scale residential project’s design and its shovel-in-the-ground moment.
In response, governments across Canada, the US, and UK are introducing policy changes aimed at accelerating delivery. Drawing on our experience, we provide our perspective on the policy shifts and highlight seven dynamic market-driving forces shaping the more responsive and efficient design and delivery of multi-family housing. A key takeaway: the things young people just entering the housing market want and what seniors want are more closely aligned than you might think.
Policy Shifts and Government Initiatives
In September 2025, Canada’s federal government launched Build Canada Homes, an agency created to “make it simpler and faster to get big projects off the ground” through means that include leveraging public lands and providing financial incentives. The province of Ontario aims to speed up housing approvals by streamlining planning and development rules (Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022) and expanding the Minister of Municipal Affairs’ power to bypass local planning decisions (Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act).
Meanwhile, several US states are seeking to relax zoning restrictions that impede densification. In February 2026, Illinois proposed legislation that would limit local governments’ authority to block missing-middle development in residential-zoned districts. Pennsylvania’s Housing Action Plan, also introduced in 2026, aims to modernize permitting and zoning processes, in part through allowing denser development and easing restrictive parking requirements. The US Government currently has the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act legislation processing through Congress addressing the housing shortage and aiming to make housing more accessible and affordable.
The UK announced a provision through Class O Permitted Development Rights. This provision removes the requirement to make a formal planning application as development is automatically deemed approved, except for listed buildings of historic interest. Projects receive a certificate of lawfulness, usually prior to development, enabling funding or mortgage arrangements and allowing work to progress within shortened timeframes.
Urban Densification and Multi-Generational Living
Both seniors and younger generations are gravitating toward urban environments for access to amenities, transit, and community. Designing a variety of unit types and a central community center fosters interaction across age groups. The idea of planning and building entire communities at once, rather than in phases, contributes to a vibrant, integrated environment from the outset.
As examples, Westman Village, an integrated residential development in Calgary, AB, offers diverse housing options for all ages and incomes, and Bella Vista, in Saanich, BC, comprises 20 residential buildings, containing rental units, condominiums, townhomes and seniors housing.
Meanwhile, strategic spends that diminish up-front cost premiums for building to exemplary sustainability standards are changing multi-unit ROI equations. Hamilton at Eagleview Passive House, a Hankin Group development in Exton, PA, is the United States’ first market-rate, multi-family residential property designed to achieve Phius ZERO certification. This 4-story, 32-unit building represents the next chapter of a larger vision for the 800-acre Eagleview community, which offers a mix of commercial, residential, and retail uses.
Hamilton at Eagleview Passive House, Exton, PA
Focus on the Missing Middle
In recent years, urban multi-family housing has expanded beyond massive tower-on-podium developments to include more flexible, sustainable mid-rise forms. Rising costs of concrete and steel, along with zoning changes that permit multi-unit housing in formerly single-family areas, have encouraged new approaches. Stacked townhouses, in particular, are gaining strong popularity. Typically, these are three or four stories and often wood-framed; they can also incorporate mass timber, a more sustainable alternative that typically support faster construction timelines. These designs appeal across generations, as seniors favor accessible single-level ground-floor units, while younger residents are drawn to multi-story homes located on the levels above in urban environments.
The Rise of Generationally Aligned Rental Housing
For decades, condominium towers defined multi-unit housing. That model is breaking down. Escalating home prices are pushing first-time ownership further out of reach, while older adults are choosing flexibility over tying up capital. The result is a clear convergence: seniors and Gen Z increasingly want the same thing—high-quality, spacious, professionally managed rental homes.
We’re seeing strong demand for larger-format rentals, including townhouse-scale units that offer the space of ownership without the financial burden. For Gen Z, it’s about access and flexibility; for seniors, it’s about convenience, mobility, and downsizing without compromise. In both cases, rental is no longer a stepping-stone or a fallback—it’s a deliberate choice.
Developers are responding. Projects once envisioned as multi-tower condominium developments are being rethought, with entire buildings—or portions of them—converted to purpose-built rental or branded residential. This isn’t a temporary shift. It reflects a structural change in how multiple generations define value, tenure, and home.
Adaptive Reuse for Livable Uses
Office vacancies remain high, owners and lenders are accepting the revaluation of properties coming available for housing reuse of all types, from top-of-the-market apartments to affordable and supportive housing. Adaptive reuse offers significant opportunity to re-energize urban areas that have been decimated by the downturn in the office market. These projects can restore the density that small businesses, especially food-and-beverage and other service retailers, need to thrive. Given the challenges of working with existing buildings, specific local, state, and historic incentives are often essential: they can be the difference between projects happening and buildings remaining empty.
Our experience demonstrates success across a range of adaptive reuse projects—from converting downtown office buildings into apartment rentals that increase urban density to transforming vacant large-format retail stores into transitional housing. Another very viable option is repurposing former long-stay hotels into supportive housing; on these projects, existing in-unit kitchens facilitate the conversion.
Adaptive reuse directly aligns with what both seniors and Gen Z are looking for: attainable, flexible, and well-located housing, without the cost and delay of new construction.
17 Market West, Philadelphia, PA
Amenity Spaces for All Ages
A decade ago, an “amenity race” defined rental housing, with developers competing to deliver ever more elaborate shared spaces. Today, the priority has shifted to right-sized, purposeful amenities—and here again, what seniors and Gen Z value is aligned. Both groups prioritize access to restaurants, services, transit, and social spaces, as well as flexibility in how and where they work. With many in both demographics working remotely, there is strong demand for co-working suites, Zoom rooms, and informal collaboration areas. Reliable, high-speed Wi-Fi—whether in workspaces, fitness areas, or rooftop terraces—is essential. The differentiator is not excess, but intentionality: designing amenity spaces that support daily life, foster connection, and accommodate evolving expectations across generations.
The Campus Takes on New Meaning
Over time, the high cost of living, congestion, and climate change have diminished the attraction of Sunbelt US cities as retirement-living destinations. University towns are now emerging as compelling alternatives. They offer excellent healthcare and walkable, vibrant downtowns full of restaurants and cultural venues—not to mention opportunities to attend a favorite college football team’s home games. Expect intensifying multi-family development in college towns like Knoxville, TN, and Columbus, OH. Seniors will be an important demographic, but people working in research-and-technology fields will also be drawn to the prospect of living close to a campus. Our takeaway is that campus-adjacent communities are uniquely positioned to serve both seniors and younger professionals, as their housing preferences and lifestyle expectations increasingly converge.
Intrigued by these possibilities? Share your ideas by starting a conversation with our Residential team.
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