New federal standardized housing designs are meaningless without changes to permitting in B.C., developers warn
The federal government's rollout of dozens of standardized house designs is intended to help cities build homes more quickly and cheaply.
But without improvements to permitting by municipalities and large-scale programs for sourcing building materials, they'll just end up being a book of ideas, some developers warn.
The Housing Design Catalogue released last week consists of almost 50 renderings, floor plan layouts and building details for different styles of homes, such as laneway houses, row houses and multiple-unit dwellings. Seven of the designs were created by a Vancouver-based architect to be used for buildings in B.C.
Dan Winer, executive lead at Small Housing B.C., said that while he applauds efforts to add more gentle-density homes, these will be built only if they're accompanied by other moves as well.
'Standardized designs are a great step — they offer more options for Canadians, reduce pre-development design costs and provide certainty for industry while maintaining neighbourhood character,' he said.
'But their success will ultimately depend on municipal zoning policies, permit timelines and cost structures. Without meaningful streamlining at the local level, these designs may not have the impact they're intended to have.'
These new federal designs come after the B.C. government released its own catalogue of 10 standardized home designs that are available free online.
Jake Fry, CEO of Smallworks Ltd., which has been specializing in laneway and small homes since 2005, agreed that standardized designs are a positive first step.
'The municipalities, the province and the feds, they are all weighing in (on standardized home designs) and it's emblematic of the desire to do something to support reducing the cost of making a house,' he said.
However, the thing they all need is 'some sort of hammer to create an environment where these will be built.' This means municipalities taking the provincial and federal designs and expediting their zoning and permitting processes when a dwelling is proposed using one of the designs.
So far, there hasn't been much take-up by municipalities. Some of them, such as Burnaby and Kelowna, have their own catalogues of standardized designs.
If standardized designs are to speed up construction and cut costs, they need to be paired with programs that source or prefabricate materials, said Fry.
The national housing program has been described as being like a response for building housing after the Second World War, but there hasn't been a sweeping push for such urgent action as one might expect in a major crisis, said Fry.
Bryn Davidson of Lanefab Design/Build, which specializes in custom homes, infill and multiplex housing, said that like the other catalogues, the new federal one is a nice idea.
'They're not likely to translate directly into new homes because zoning is still governed by a 1,000 different municipalities, each with unique rules. I get a bit frustrated because the cost and time for doing a custom design is about the same cost and time as getting a building permit, but the focus has been on cutting out the design versus cutting out the permitting.'
Davidson said that while Burnaby has its own catalogue of standardized designs, it's also the case that permitting remains a problem because properties 'vary wildly in terms of size and situation (with) lanes, trees, slopes and cul-de-sacs.'
What gave rise to the Vancouver Special, a boxy shape design that produced relatively inexpensive homes in Vancouver between 1965 and 1985, and what is currently happening in Kelowna with its template for fourplex homes, is a simple permitting process and many available lots for development, said Davidson.
'The problem is that everyone is looking at Kelowna and trying to replicate the pre-approved plans, but what we really need to do is to replicate the culture of rapid approval that exists in their community,' he said.
jlee-young@postmedia.com
B.C. unveils standardized home designs with focus on faster approval, lower building costs
How the B.C. government can build homes more quickly and efficiently — and avoid cookie-cutter styles
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