Saturday August 1, 2020 ~ GREATER VICTORIA, BC
Mary Brooke, editor ~ West Shore Voice News
The combined housing and transportation costs as a measure of overall household affordability in the capital region was examined by the Capital Regional District and released this past week in a report about their Housing and Transportation Cost Estimate Study.
Housing affordability has normally been measured by how much people pay for housing, and the CRD now says that this measure alone may not accurately reflect the full cost of housing location choices.
“Affordability is a significant ongoing concern for many households in the region,” the July 2020 report states. The Capital Region Housing and Transportation Cost Estimate Study examines the combined housing and transportation costs as a measure of overall affordability in the Capital Regional District’s (CRD) Growth Management Planning Area (GMPA).
The CRD adds that transportation costs can be a major household expense depending on where one lives and if one owns a vehicle for primary transportation.
Costs vary by location:
The study’s overall finding “that the combined housing and transportation costs vary depending on where people live in the region” is probably not a surprise to most people in the region.
However, the CRD says their data suggests that transportation choice could save households money.
Key study findings include:
An overall conclusion in the report encapsulates the housing reality in Greater Victoria: “It is likely that housing costs will continue to increase as older housing stock and long rental tenures are replaced by newer housing stock and a new generation of renters entering at market rates. Similarly, new home buyers in the study area will continue to face escalating entrance costs. As such, the average housing costs are likely to see notable upswings over time.”
The CRD lists these as their key findings (text in bold) — which seem relatively obvious regardless of a study. WSVN observations follow each key finding.
- the cost of vehicle ownership is significant regardless of how much it is used. There was no apparent differentiation of owning a gasoline-fueled vehicle vs electric; the cost of owning and maintaining a bicycle was estimated as $350/year.
- areas where there are older apartments and condominiums with longer tenant tenure have lower housing costs. The highest percentage of homeowners with mortgages were in Langford, Sooke, View Royal, Colwood and Esquimalt. In every area of Greater Victoria there are at least 27% of residents paying more than 30% of their income on rent. The percentage of tenant households spending over 30% on accommodation was highest in Oak Bay, Sidney and Sooke (areas with a higher percentage of seniors); the lowest percentage of those high-ratio renters show in stats for Colwood, Highlands and Metchosin (but there are fewer rental units in those areas).
- transportation costs tend to be lower in areas where more transportation options are available; but this does not indicate deeper lifestyle costs (such as being remote from major commercial or professional services) or higher overhead for things like deliveries when living in areas like Sooke and Juan de Fuca.
- some developing areas in the outer areas of the region show more housing affordability due to land values and availability. The housing itself might be cheaper, but the add-on costs of transportation, distance to schools and services become real for homeowners in more outlying areas.
The west shore angle:
One of those ‘outer areas’ includes the west shore, which — if combining five municipalities that consider themselves to be part of the west shore — is about half the area of the capital region.
In the west shore, the average annual transportation cost per adult was $6,927 in Langford, $7,210 in Colwood, $8,827 in Highlands, $8,927 in Metchosin, and $9,040 in Juan de Fuca. Sooke is shown under the CRD’s West Shore category, with an average annual transportation cost per adult of $7,841.
In the west shore, the average annual household cost is shown as lowest in Juan de Fuca, Sooke and Metchosin — all of those in the $15,000 range, with Colwood a bit higher at $16,740 and Langford at $17,556.
For the most part, average household size is given as 2.5 persons in the west shore areas, compared to about 2.4 in the Saanich Peninsula, and ranging from 1.8 to 2.4 in the core areas of Victoria, Oak Bay, Saanich, Esquimalt and View Royal.
View Royal straddling the regions:
The Town of View Royal is included in this CRD study as part of the core area, yet when it comes to matter of business, View Royal includes itself within the west shore (as in being one of five municipalities in the West Shore Chamber of Commerce).
The Victoria General Hospital is located in View Royal, a major employer in the region. Major transportation arteries flow through View Royal, including Highway 1 and the Interurban roadways.
View Royal shares a vested interest with Langford in the casino located in View Royal, as to revenues which support municipal budgets.
Informing local planning initiatives:
The CRD says that its study “provides a necessary baseline on housing and transportation costs, and results could be used to inform regional and local planning initiatives”.
View the Housing and Transportation Cost Estimate Study (PDF)
