Monday April 3, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The Homes for People action plan encourages densification. Includes a BC-wide push for homeowners to build secondary suites, and will allow for up to 4 multi-family units to be built on what would otherwise be a single-family home lot.
A refreshed BC Housing Plan called Homes for People was announced today by Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, outdoors on a cold spring morning in a neighbourhood that is experiencing multi-family housing infill.
There will still be eight to 10 municipalities getting an additional targeted push from the Province as to building more housing and faster. Kahlon says the selection of those targeted municipalities will be data-driven.
But otherwise today’s biggest sweep of attention to housing was that legislation for speeding up the development of housing supply will be applicable province-wide, as well as demonstrating a balance of initiatives in both sectors of having a roof over one’s head: home ownership and home renter.
As well, Premier Eby highlighted how restrictions will be freed up on the usual process of approvals for multi-family housing projects (usually as infill housing in already established areas) so that smaller-size affordable housing options will be available in these times of expensive (generally unaffordable) housing options — whether for home ownership or rental.
Premier Eby emphasized that housing in BC is for people to have places to live, not for speculators. He rounded out that declaration by stating the obvious (which until recent years has been oddly overlooked): housing supports neighbourhood well-being (including overall safety), employers who need workers (who can afford to live near where they work), and the best-level use of infrastructure.
$400 renter’s tax credit:
A $400 tax credit for renters was announced today. This will be income-tested giving the most support to households with moderate and low incomes, starting in 2024. Apparently anyone already receiving support through the provincial Rental Assistance Program (RAP) or Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) rental supports will not experience a clawback of those supports and will also be eligible for the $400 tax credit.
The Ministry of Finance says: “With one in three B.C. households renting their home and facing increasing costs in a tight rental market, the income-tested renter’s tax credit is expected to reach more than 80% of renter households, including people who receive income and disability assistance or support from the Rental Assistance Program (RAP) or Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER).”
“Recipients of RAP/SAFER will receive full support of the programs and the full tax credit,” says a Finance Ministry spokesperson. “All three of these are income based, and both RAP and SAFER have income thresholds under the renter’s tax credit.”
RAP has an income threshold of $40,000 for a household, while SAFER has a maximum threshold of $33,000 for a couple.
Four priorities:
Homes for People is focused on four priorities:
- unlocking more homes faster;
- delivering better, more affordable homes;
- helping those with the greatest housing need; and
- creating a housing market for people, not speculators
Actions include:
Actions in Homes for People include:
- delivering more middle-income small-scale, multi-unit housing that people can afford, including town homes, duplexes and triplexes through zoning changes and proactive partnerships;
- offering forgivable loans for homeowners to build and rent secondary suites below market rates to increase affordable rental supply quickly;
- building thousands more affordable homes for renters, Indigenous Peoples on and off reserve, women and children leaving violence, and building thousands more on-campus student housing units;
- delivering thousands of new homes near public transit, and launching BC Builds to use public land to deliver affordable homes for people;
- introducing a flipping tax to discourage short-term speculation;
- providing an annual income-tested tax credit of up to $400 per year for renters;
- providing more homes and supports for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness;
- streamlining and modernizing permitting to reduce costs and speed up approvals to get homes built faster; and
- strengthening enforcement of short-term rentals.
City of Victoria leadership:
City of Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto also addressed media today at the Orca Community Garden location in Vic West.
She hopes residents are suitably challenged to be “bold and provocative” in taking advantage of the opportunity to develop secondary suites and put multi-unit housing onto what would otherwise be single-family lots. She proposed that homeowners might “protect the look” of the traditional home but provide multiple-living units.
To the Premier and BC Government Alto said: “Easy requirements are more than welcome.” She likes how both owners and renters are addressed in the Homes for People plan. She articulated that 60% of people in Victoria are renters. She added that “the feds have not been with us for a long long time”. And definitively: “Homes are for people, and that’s the reason we are standing here.”
The City of Victoria has received high-profile attention in the past year for looking at ‘missing middle’ housing options, with a move forward in that direction under the new mayor back in January.
Today’s media event emcee was Victoria-Beacon Hill MLA Grace Lore.
Developer & resident input:
There were two other speakers today:
- An urban planner-turned-developer … who said that the new opportunity for homeowners to develop secondary suites will create ‘a new type of developer’ (who can’t go through rezoning and may need to team up with builders), and
- A local resident who said that extraordinarily high housing costs have led she and her husband to deciding to delay starting a family and that she “feels trapped by the market”.
Canadian Homebuilders:
“Homes for People recognizes the challenge to deliver the hundreds of thousands of homes this province needs,” said Neil Moody, CEO, Canadian Home Builders’ Association of British Columbia, in today’s BC government news release. “We are pleased to see the B.C. government move forward with bold actions the home building industry has recommended and if implemented effectively, we could see more attainable housing choices, faster.”
Non-Profit Housing:
“The Homes for People action plan is a timely update of the Province’s 10-year strategy, setting a clear course of action for much-needed investments and anticipated policy and legislative changes to address the critical under-supply of housing across the continuum,” said Jill Atkey, CEO, B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association, in today’s BC government news release. “The community housing sector is a ready and willing partner in the buildout of more than 10,000 net new affordable homes announced with this new plan.”
===== GOVERNMENT LINKS:
Technical briefing presentation
Map showing the location of all announced provincially funded housing projects in B.C.
Single window for provincial housing permitting and authorizations
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends is a professional news portal at islandsocialtrends.ca . Fully online since mid-2020, Island Social Trends emerged from the extensive groundwork of previous print publications in the west shore: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), and West Shore Voice News (2014-2020).
Since 2008, journalist and editor Mary P Brooke has taken a socioeconomic lens to news analysis about the west shore and south Vancouver Island region, including BC provincial news, and national news impacts.
Ms Brooke has been covering news of School District 62 (SD62) at the board and committee level, including attending nearly all of their meetings since 2014. In the October 2022 municipal election cycle, Mary P Brooke was a school trustee candidate (SD62 Belmont Zone – Langford, Colwood, Metchosin and Highlands), as a service to community.
The Island Social Trends Journalism Program offers the opportunity for high school students on Vancouver Island to learn journalism by preparing and submitting articles in a real world context.
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