A commentary by a retired urban planner who lives in Saanich.
The provincial government, in its wisdom, has provided housing targets to 10 municipalities, including three in the capital region. Its purpose is to support delivering the right type of housing in each community, including a recommended number of below-market rental units.
For Saanich the target is 4,610 units over the next five years. This target is broken down by size, by tenure and by market rate. This year, Saanich council received a report that provided a definition of housing affordability.
It is interesting to compare what these two reports are saying about what needs to be built. Let’s look first at units for ownership (single family, townhouse and condominiums).
The province wants Saanich to build 2,115 units for ownership – 46 per cent of the target. The Saanich affordability report indicates that an annual income of $158,000 is required to purchase a condominium (more for single family and townhouses) and that only 3.7 per cent of renters have that level of income.
Which begs the question: Who will buy the other units?
Of the provincial target figure of 4,610 units, 1,334 (29 per cent) should be market rental units. This meshes well with the 34 per ent of Saanich renters who have sufficient income to meet the required affordability levels.
But more than 60 per cent of current Saanich renters have annual incomes of less than $60,000 and therefore have an affordability problem – they can’t find a unit to rent for less than 30 per cent of their income.
The provincial target is for 1,161 below-market rental units to serve the needs of this group.
The province is also suggesting that Saanich needs 65 per cent of its 4,610 units to be studio or one-bedroom units, presumably to serve households without children.
So what does this say about how the province sees the future (short-term) of Saanich and its housing stock?
• It’s business as usual for the development industry. Almost half the units to be built will be for owner-occupation and affordable by only 3.7 per cent of local renters. Presumably the other 40 per cent will be sold to the affluent local and primarily non-local population.
• Most new rental and condo towers will be made up of studio and one-bedroom units which will serve affluent students, young professionals and seniors. The development industry will appreciate this focus and their per-unit profits will reflect it.
• Affluent renters will be OK as the supply of market rental housing will increase, but they will be only able to get into the ownership market with creative accounting such as the Bank of Mom and Dad.
• Tough luck on hard-working families unless they want to squeeze into a one-bedroom unit.
And what should Saanich council do in response to these provincial targets?
• Push back on the provincial government by pointing out that these targets will do nothing to either diminish house/unit prices, nor lessen the affordable challenge of the 60 per cent of renters who earn less than $60,000 a year.
• Strengthen their policies to require that the provincial target of non-market rental housing is reached.
• Strengthen their policies to ensure that two- and three-bedroom units are included in every development (over, say, six units) to at least meet the provincial target of one-third of units.
And what should Saanich residents think and do?
• Speak up to their local MLAs if they think that children and hard-working families deserve a decent home in Saanich and the capital region.
• Not worry too much as long as they think their communities can do without nurses, teachers, trades people, etc, etc.
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