Yesterday we discussed how to make housing more affordable. What are the barriers to creating affordable housing? What can we do to remove the barriers?
The first presentation outlined some of the projects around BC which laid down the foundation for the day long workshop.
As I listened to examples of how to make housing affordable, I was pleased about all the work Port Coquitlam has done over the years to make housing affordable. Some examples are legalized secondary suites, increased density, including apartments, townhouses and row housing and allowing smaller lots in specific neighborhoods. I know many people will comment that housing is still not affordable. I agree; we have more to learn and do.
In the morning session there was a panel of speakers; two politicians, a banker, a builder and an academic. Much of the discussion was focused on pointing fingers at others for the challenges to reduce the cost of a new home, such as property transfer tax, development cost charges, building code, zoning flexibility, developers and new forms of building. All comments are relevant and need to be addressed. However, what was not discussed was the desire for first time home buyers to purchase a new 3000 square foot house. This is a relativity new trend -- my parents, and Erin and I rented, entered the market through the purchase of an apartment, then a townhouse and finally a 30 year old 1900 square foot house. Stepping stones to home ownership.
When I posted the question "how do we make home ownership affordable?" on my Facebook page, Lani Sheldon commented that we need to provide appropriate education to our kids on basic economics of running a house and how to get into the housing market. Good idea, if a young person does not have a parent that is knowledgeable about home ownership they will be at a major disadvantage.
In the afternoon, we broke out into small discussion tables. Here are the highlights of the solutions:
- Create more housing near transit, so an individual or family can survive on one car
- Pre-approved zoning
- Review the provincial property transfer tax
- Fee-simple row housing
- Need a provincial affordable housing strategy that brings together the province and the municipalities together, similar to the Climate Action Charter
- Create incentives for the market to build rental housing
- Reduce the time of rezoning and increase the transparency of the development application
- Coordination of all stakeholders, all levels of government, non-profits and developers
- Reduce or eliminate DCCs on infill housing
- The Fraser Basin website has a list municipal development checklists ands other resources
- Allow secondary suites in townhouses.
It was a very informative day. I look forward to bring back some new ideas and strategies to make home ownership in Port Coquitlam more affordable.
