B.C. municipal housing targets favour smaller units: expert
Posted September 27, 2023 7:13 am.
Last Updated September 27, 2023 7:17 am.
The province is pushing municipalities to create more housing — but is enough being done for families?
The B.C. government announced targets Tuesday for 10 municipalities around the province identified as having the most urgent need for new housing, including Vancouver, Delta, West Vancouver, and Victoria.
Those targets heavily favour one-bedroom and studio units over multi-bedroom housing more suitable for growing families, but the director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University says it makes sense given the demand for smaller units.
Andy Yan tells CityNews when it comes to building bigger condominiums and townhouses, developers will be considering both the cost of construction and the market.
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“Particularly when it comes to two- and three-bedroom units, that is going to be a sizable challenge coming from certain parts of the market sector, but also for the non-market sector, if there aren’t the kind of supports for the development of these types of housing units.”
Yan questions the current capacity to build larger units, not just the issue of zoning and land-use laws, but construction and material costs.
Simply put, smaller units are cheaper, easier to build, and are in higher demand.
“What these targets should look like comes down to who will be delivering these units, particularly when it comes to two and three-bedroom units. That’s going to be a sizable challenge coming from certain parts of the market sector,” explained Yan.
Under B.C.’s new Housing Supply Act, the target guide for municipalities shows the provincial government wants to create two to three times the number of single-bedroom or studio suites in each city compared to multi-bedroom room units.
Victoria set the targets Tuesday for the first 10 municipalities selected under the act, pushing for more new homes to be built faster in areas with the greatest need.
So far, the goal is for nearly 17,500 smaller units and 6,200 multi-bedroom homes in the next five years, with about 70 per cent of them slated to be below-market rentals.
Municipalities will be evaluated after six months, and every year thereafter, on their progress toward achieving the housing targets and actions taken to meet the target, including streamlining permitting processes and increasing allowable density.
–With files from David Nadalini