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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
B.C. given C+ housing grade by task force — but builders say cities need to step up
British Columbia is falling short when it comes to building new homes, according to a new report on housing across the country — and some leaders in the housing sector agree with the report's findings. The Task Force for Housing and Climate, a group of 15 housing policy experts that formed in 2023 to make recommendations for governments across the country, commissioned the report. It gives B.C. a C+ for its progress on developing much-needed homes across the province. "British Columbia has instituted the most ambitious reforms, but their overall performance is undermined by high (and still rising) municipal development charges and some of the slowest permitting approval times in the country," the report says. No province received a better grade than a C+. Alberta, given a D+, was given the lowest grade, but it gave the federal government a B. The province says that it appreciates the task force's work, and its acknowledgement of "the progress we're making to build more homes faster." "Despite economic challenges, we saw a 37 [per cent] increase in housing starts in January 2025 and a 61 [per cent] surge in purpose-built rental unit registrations, showing strong momentum," a Housing Ministry spokesperson said in a statement. "With unprecedented provincial investment in non-market housing, we're on track to exceed our goal of 114,000 new housing units by 2027/2028, with nearly 92,000 homes already delivered or underway." Dan Winer, executive lead with the non-profit group Small Housing B.C., says the report does have some merit, but he says the province has made a lot of improvements that deserve recognition. "We agree with the overall tone of the urgency and the need for bold, drastic moves," Winer told CBC's The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn. "But at the same time, we disagree with the harsh grading." Winer says B.C. has been a leader in legalizing what he calls "gentle density" — adding more homes to existing properties by building things like basement suites and coach houses, or building triplexes and fourplexes on a single lot. "But gentle density is the chance to add homes to established neighborhoods and leverage existing infrastructure without fantastically altering the shape of the neighborhood or the community," he said. "We just think it's one of the most elegant solutions to adding more housing to our vast portfolio here in B.C." In 2023 B.C. passed Bill 44, which requires municipalities to rezone in order to increase small-scale, multi-unit housing. Some municipalities have pushed back, however, and have asked for more time to apply the bill to their official community plans and bylaws. Winer says some of the biggest obstacles to creating more housing in B.C. include high municipal fees, and unpredictable timelines that increase costs and slow down construction. The problem mainly lies with municipalities, Winer says. Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builders Association, agrees that municipalities are the leading obstacle of more housing. In the Capital Regional District there are 13 separate municipalities, each with their own municipal plans, that govern a total of about 400,000 people. "It's why we don't have LRT out to the West Shore," Edge told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. "Edmonton created their LRT in 1974 with the same population that we have in Victoria today and we're nowhere close." Edge points out that the province recently had to enforce its housing targets for Victoria suburb Oak Bay by releasing recommendations for the municipality. He wishes that Bill 15, the controversial infrastructure legislation that B.C. passed earlier this week to fast-track schools, hospitals and some private projects, had included housing as well. Permit and other development delays are a significant source of cost increases, Edge says, because builders still have to pay loans and taxes on land while they wait for the go-ahead to build.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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@ 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
