Housing plan could yield up to 293,000 new homes over next decade, report says

VANCOUVER — The provincial government’s ambitious homebuilding agenda could result in up to 293,000 new housing units over the next decade, according to a government-commissioned report highlighted Thursday by Premier David Eby.

Eby told a B.C. Chamber of Commerce luncheon every community across the province needs more homes, and not just singlefamily homes. “We need townhomes. We need triplexes. We need multi-units,” he said. “The idea that the single-family home is the only thing you can build with a simple building permit means that the only kind of housing that people are inclined to build are single-family homes.”

Eby said the government passed a series of bills this fall to tackle the province-wide housing crisis and increase the amount of affordable homes and rental properties.

The government’s housing legislation will restrict shortterm rentals, provide more density on single-family lots, relax restrictive building permitting processes and increase housing density at public transit areas.

The premier cited a 201-page report that projected the government’s housing legislation, particularly in relation to multiunit projects and transit-oriented developments, could result in between 216,000 and 293,000 new units over the next decade.

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said B.C. was previously planning to build 130,000 new units over the next decade.

The report also projected lower rents and home prices over five years. “The additional 44,000 to 54,000 net growth in dwellings over five years estimated by our model would result in six per cent to 12 per cent lower prices and rents than what they would have been without the provincial legislation,” said the report.

The legislation is expected to impact rent and home prices over the next decade, but that will “vary substantially depending on demand growth scenarios,” said the report. The estimates are consistent with the results from housing reforms similar to B.C.’s previously introduced in Auckland, New Zealand, the report said.

Eby said the government delivered regulations and policy manuals to local governments on Thursday, to guide their work on local housing initiatives. Among the details are outlines for 104 transit-oriented development areas in 31 B.C. municipalities, including Saanich, Victoria, View Royal, Colwood, Langford, Nanaimo and Lantzville.

Saanich Mayor Dean Murdoch said he hopes that Saanich will receive some of the $15 million announced earlier by the province to help local governments meet new expectations under the housing initiatives. The district is expected to add 4,610 housing units within five years.

The regulations for short-term rental restrictions, meanwhile, define what constitutes a principal residence, list communities where the principal residency requirement applies and detail exemptions from the principalresidency rules, the Ministry of Housing said in a statement.

Local governments can ask to opt out of the principal-residency requirement if there is a rental vacancy rate of three per cent or more for three consecutive years, said the ministry.

The regulations to spur multihousing units include requirements to update zoning bylaws to allow more units to be built on properties, the ministry said.

B.C. opposition parties have criticized the government for using its majority in the legislature to limit debate on its housing agenda. Green house Leader Adam Olsen said it appears the government had the housing modelling information when the legislature was sitting, but chose to cut off debate last week and release the information on Thursday.

“Releasing these documents with no briefing, no press conference, no accountability confirms for me the BC NDP are hiding critical information and accountability,” he said in a statement. “The changes are significant and will impact communities for decades.”

— With files from Carla Wilson, Times Colonist