Housing Archives - Page 2 of 4

Real estate market showing signs of spring thaw

June 5, 2024/in Business And Economic Strength, Housing/by Jim Zeeben

The Victoria Real Estate Board released its latest take on the region’s market this week, before the change in interest rates was announced.

“A lot of folks who have been watching the market over recent years may find that now is a good time to sell and buy as market conditions have changed for the better,” VREB Chair Laurie Lidstone said.

A total of 763 properties sold in the region this May, slightly less than the same month last year. There were 3,338 active listings for sale at the end of May, a 52.5 per cent increase from the 2,189 active listings for sale at the end of May 2023.

The benchmark value for a single family home was $1,309,700, up from April’s value of $1,301,800. The benchmark value for a condominium in May 2024 was $569,500, up from the April value of $561,200

Building Permit Hub going live in Saanich, Victoria

May 29, 2024/in Finding And Keeping Workers, Housing/by Jim Zeeben

More homes.

That’s the simple answer to so many of the complex challenges affecting our economy — from attracting and keeping workers to providing shelter for people camping on city streets.

The Chamber consistently advocates for policy changes and investment that will boost our housing supply. And we applaud the latest announcement this week that sees a pilot Building Permit Hub begin operations in select regions of the province, including in the City of Victoria and the District of Saanich. The online tool is expected to be available at the local level this summer.

The goal is to streamline and standardize local permitting processes that can be complicated and delay home construction.

“This new one-stop shop for local building permits will reduce red tape for homebuilders, local governments and First Nations, and ultimately save money, speed up construction and help people get into homes faster,” BC Premier David Eby said in a news release.

The new hubs:

standardize building-permit submission requirements across BC jurisdictions
automatically check that the permit application is complete; and
automatically check compliance with key parts of the BC Building Code.

The Building Permit Hub is scheduled to scale up over the next year to include more types of housing, and eventually serve more municipalities and First Nations in BC.

Our Place aims to house Pandora campers by January

May 9, 2024/in Housing, Safe Communities/by Jim Zeeben

The CEO of Our Place Society announced yesterday that he hopes to find homes by the end of the year for people living on the street in the 900-block of Pandora Ave.

“It distresses me to see so many displaced people,” Our Place CEO Julian Daly said in a media release. “No one should be consigned to living on the pavement in our city. It’s a crying shame. All people deserve so much better.”

Our Place, located in the middle of the Pandora encampments, recently surveyed people living on the street. Not surprisingly, all of them hoped for a better life.

“Each person told us they wanted housing, and what supports they needed to be successful once housed,” Daly said, noting the survey showed people need help with addiction and mental health as much as they do with housing.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” Daly says. “Instead, we have to tailor our supports to the individual.”

Some of the highlights of the survey were:

0% said they wanted to remain living on the streets
15% have struggled with homelessness for over 10 years
23% of individuals living on the block are female
23% of individuals are over the age of 50
39% of people are currently interested in accessing treatment programs
80% have been homeless for more than 1 year
85% have untreated physical health conditions
95% are currently struggling with their mental health.

“Our Place is one of the charities that is actively trying to help,” Daly said. “We did not create or enable the situation on Pandora, and we, as much as anyone, want to find a solution to it. In fact, our aim is to secure housing for everyone currently camping on Pandora before the end of the year.”

Secondary suite program aims to add 3,000 homes

May 8, 2024/in Government Local, Government Provincial, Housing/by Jim Zeeben

Business and industry groups have been calling for policy changes to address the housing shortage facing Greater Victoria. And while many regions in the world are facing a similar challenge, we need solutions that work for Canada and BC.

Last week, the province revealed its three-year pilot to encourage homeowners to add secondary suites to their properties.

BC Housing will administer the program, which offers forgivable loans of as much as 50% of the total cost of renovations — up to a maximum of $40,000 — to add a secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit such as a garden suite, laneway house or carriage home. If the new unit is rented at below market rates for at least five years, the loan will be forgiven.

The province estimates the program will add 3,000 new rental units at below-market rates.

To be eligible, homeowners must also:

obtain a building and occupancy permit from their local government;
have a combined gross annual income of homeowners on title of less than $209,420; and
have a BC Assessment value on their property below the homeowner grant threshold ($2.15 million in 2024).

New rules for short-term rentals effective May 1

May 1, 2024/in Fair Rules, Government Local, Government Provincial, Housing/by Jim Zeeben

The Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act took effect today. Among the changes, according to the province, are:

Short-term rentals can only be offered in the principal residence of a host, plus one additional unit, secondary suite or laneway home/garden suite on the property.
Strata hotels and motels that have been operating in a manner similar to a hotel or motel before Dec. 8, 2023, and that meet select criteria moving forward, will be exempt from the Principal Residence Requirement.
Non-conforming use of property will no longer apply to short-term rentals.
Short-term rental hosts will be required to display a valid business licence number on their listing.
Short-term rental platforms will be required to share data with the Province.

If the new rules aren’t followed, fines can be levied ranging from $500 to $10,000 per day, depending on who is operating the rental.

BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon told the Times Colonist that short-term rentals will be available on a smaller scale as the new rules aim to stop people from taking away large numbers of housing units that could serve as homes for people.

New Rules for STRs

Home values for young adults tied to parents’ wealth

May 1, 2024/in Housing/by Jim Zeeben

The prospect of home ownership for younger Canadians has a direct connection to their ability to tap into the “bank of mom and dad,” Statistics Canada stated in a report released today on Intergenerational Housing Outcomes in Canada. The report said that expensive urban markets such as Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto had a higher proportion of “co-signed” mortgages involving people born in the 1990s and their parents.

“Parents’ housing wealth was associated with higher property values for their children, especially in Toronto, Kelowna, Vancouver and Victoria. In these cities, children whose parents were at the top of the housing wealth distribution owned properties that were on average 29.6% to 37.4% more valuable than properties owned by people whose parents were at the bottom of the housing wealth distribution,” Statistics Canada said. “These results suggest that parental property ownership affects not only children’s ability to access home ownership as adults, but also the value of the properties they own and, therefore, their ability to build up greater home equity and financial assets.”

More local municipalities must meet housing targets

April 24, 2024/in Government Local, Government Provincial, Housing/by Jim Zeeben

On Tuesday, the provincial government released the next round of municipalities facing scrutiny to ensure they are helping increase BC’s housing supply.

The next 20 priority municipalities include the following in Greater Victoria:

Central Saanich
Colwood
Esquimalt
North Saanich
Sidney
and View Royal.

The first list, released last spring, included the City of Victoria, the District of Saanich and the District of Oak Bay. Each community receives a target number of total units that are expected to be built within a specific time-frame. The targets for the latest communities will be made public this summer.

“The Chamber supports efforts to increase housing supply and we continue to advocate for all levels of government to smooth the process for builders so the construction work needed can be done,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams said. “I’m looking forward to speaking with Premier Eby next week at the Chamber breakfast to hear firsthand how the province is advocating for support from the federal government.”

The Chamber hosts Premier Eby on April 30. Register now to reserve your seat at the table.

Real estate market showing signs of spring thaw

Building Permit Hub going live in Saanich, Victoria

Our Place aims to house Pandora campers by January

Secondary suite program aims to add 3,000 homes

New rules for short-term rentals effective May 1

Home values for young adults tied to parents’ wealth

More local municipalities must meet housing targets

New funds for military include help with housing

Plan for Capital Iron District heading to city council

Changes coming to rules for renters and landlords

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