B.C. minister outlines housing plans, including support for 'missing middle'
Briefing comes days after Ravi Kahlon ordered 10 municipalities to build 60,000 homes in 5 years
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon outlined on Friday legislation planned by the B.C. government to try to address the housing crisis in the province.
Kahlon spoke at a media briefing in conjunction with the opening of an 58-unit affordable housing development for families and seniors in Victoria, first announced in June 2021.
He was joined by the MLA for the area, Rob Fleming, who is also B.C.'s transportation minister.
Key pieces of legislation set to become law sometime this fall include additional tools for municipalities to enforce compliance with short-term rental rules, financial support for property owners who want to build secondary suites, more multi-unit housing for middle income earners and new laws that will allow secondary suites on properties across the province currently zoned for single-family homes.
"We need more options in communities," said Kahlon about so-called "missing middle" units, such as duplexes and triplexes.
The City of Vancouver recently approved sweeping changes to zoning and development bylaws that will permit multi-unit dwellings in neighbourhoods where only single-family homes have previously been allowed.
It also raised short-term rental licence fees, those charged to rent out suites on platforms such as Airbnb, almost tenfold. New provincial rules are meant to help other municipalities struggling to manage short-term rentals, which can reduce long-term rental stock.
The measures outlined by Kahlon have been known for months and come from the province's Homes for People action plan, which was announced in the spring. It promised to invest $12 billion over the next 10 years to build homes faster.
The province said it's already on track to finish or begin construction on more than 100,000 homes by 2028, as the province's population increases faster than the housing supply.
More than 100,000 people moved to B.C. in 2021, while an additional 150,000 arrived last year. That's the most in 60 years, according to the province.
Others 'forced out'
Kahlon said that as people move here, others are being forced away because of unaffordability and the lack of appropriate housing.
"We know that people love living in our province, however for too many, house prices and rents are pricing them out of the communities they love to call home," he said. 'It's disheartening to hear people say that 'I really want to live here, but I can no longer afford it.'"
Earlier this week, the B.C. government ordered 10 of the largest municipalities in the province to build more than 60,000 new units of housing over the next five years — or face consequences.
Kahlon announced the exact numbers for net new units in the 10 municipalities on Tuesday, months after the province first said those communities would be targeted as part of the government's push for additional housing supply.
MLAs will return to Victoria for the fall session at the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
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