Garden suites not a housing fix

Re: “Garden suites part of solution,” editorial, April 18. No way is Victoria’s cheaper garden-suiteapproval process a housing fix.

Council works hand-in-glove with financial institutions, developers and the realestate sector to streamline land-use regulations and the zoning process, transforming housing into speculative, lucrative investment vehicles for individual and corporate owners. Public funds heavily subsidize homeowners through a system of preferential grants and ultra-low-interest-rate loans.

However, non-property owners in this city carry the lion’s share of expensive amenities, segregated bike lanes and the celebrity-endorsed harbour pathway.

New construction and new supply — in downtown condo towers or garden suites in single-family neighbourhoods — do not equal affordability.

Council, like market-driven developers, values high-end housing, well beyond the $45,827 annual median household income of Victoria residents. Garden suites will do zilch to help 60 per cent of Victoria’s households who already pay the third highest rents in Canada.

Victoria does not need more luxury lofts for executives, second homes for affluent retirees or posh Airbnb units for tourists. Why, then, does council approve more garden suites when 3,450 dwellings remain empty in the city?

Why are hundreds of renters in affordable apartments being displaced, their buildings torn down to make room for condo owners who have cashed in from elsewhere?

Beware of those who promise to cut red tape and taxes, boost home prices and provide “easy fixes.” This, when council’s decisions benefit homeowners, and ignore those without equity in the housing market — the majority of Victoria households. Victoria Adams Housing Advocate James Bay New Horizons