A SUITE PROPOSAL
If one drew up a list of pros and cons on whether to ease rules for secondary suites, the result would be rather one-sided. Officials predict about 1,650 new secondary suites could be up for rent in Edmonton if city council agrees to relax housing bylaw restrictions. That would be achieved by allowing rental properties in all detached homes as well as in semi-detached, duplex and row homes. Currently, the bylaw allows self-contained suites in only single-detached homes with lots greater than 360 square metres.
Adding hundreds of new, affordable options is definitely a plus. The influx of lower-cost rental units in a more diverse mix of neighbourhoods would benefit a wide variety of people, including post-secondary students, families with aging parents or boomerang offspring, newcomers to the city and the poor.
Another benefit: it encourages people to live in neighbourhoods that are already established, using roads, sewers, schools and other services that have already been built. Secondary suites are a less noticeable way of adding density since they don’t often change the appearance or size of a home.
Also squarely on the pro side of the balance sheet is that rental income from secondary dwellings helps homeowners pay their mortgages or the expense of home renovations and maintenance, allowing more people to purchase or keep a home even as housing costs rise.
Most Edmontonians, about 67 per cent, already agree with proposed changes, according to a public engagement survey. Most of the feedback centred on concerns around safety, which takes us to another boon. Easing the rules and offering incentives such as construction grants will encourage homeowners operating illegal suites to obtain the proper permits, while allowing authorities to ensure those currently invisible units are up to standard.
The city has about 3,500 legal secondary suites and officials estimate that for every legal one, there are three without permits. It’s better to bring these dwellings into the fold than having them operate in a dubious grey market that already exists with unchecked safety standards and living conditions.
On the negative side, opponents of the proposed changes worry more residents will mean a shortage of parking on neighbourhood streets. Let’s remember that homeowners don’t own the road in front of their house.
Moreover, renters of secondary suites often can’t afford cars or don’t need them, especially if they live in mature, walkable neighbourhoods well-served by public transit. It’s time to stop allowing motor-vehicle considerations to control Edmonton’s development.
It’s clear the benefits to encouraging more secondary suites outweigh the drawbacks.