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> Issues > Urban Growth and
Development > Smart Bylaws Guide > Part
5
Smart Bylaws Guide – Part 5
5. Create Inclusive Neighbourhoods by Ensuring that a
Diversity of Housing Types are Accessible to a Wide Range of People
of Different Age Groups, Family Types and Incomes
The affordability of housing depends on many factors, but it
rings true for all growing communities that housing is becoming less
affordable. Affordable housing is housing that is safe, appropriate
and accessible and where rent or mortgage plus taxes are 30 percent
or less of the household’s gross annual income.
Two factors are having a drastic impact on the housing choices
available in BC communities – the type of housing being built and
changing household characteristics. Over the past 20 years, new
housing in most communities has been predominantly single-family
detached dwellings in new suburban neighbourhoods. This has weighted
the housing stock in favour of larger, less affordable detached
houses. At the same time, the changing demographic of BC shows that
smaller housing forms close to commercial centres are needed. Elders
will soon comprise 25 percent of the population, while families
without children and single person households are on the rise. This
changing market means that a greater mix of housing types in all
neighbourhoods and on all streets are required to allow people in
different life stages to remain in the same community.
These factors have created an historic opportunity for smart
growth in BC to increase the variety, choice and affordability of
housing.
In the 1990’s, only 12.5 percent of new housing units built were
for rental housing while 30 percent of residents are renters. While
new rentals are gained through the development of secondary suites
and condominiums leased from individual owners, low-rise apartments
house 41 percent of renters. Local governments view apartments,
detached houses and secondary suites as the most important forms of
rental housing.
Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s
Services,
Rental
Housing Planning Guide (2002) |
Zoning bylaws are becoming more complex as municipalities allow a
greater range of housing choices in each neighbourhood. Infill
offers great potential for increasing housing affordability as many
smaller communities have significant capacity to develop or
redevelop more compactly. Infill means building one or more dwelling
units on a site already containing one or more existing buildings,
some or all of which are retained. Infill can also be achieved
through the conversion of single-family dwellings into multiple
dwellings without changing the building footprint or character of
the existing structure. Municipalities are using density bonuses to
encourage medium-density mixed-use (three to four storey apartments
with offices and retail on the ground and second floors) and
high-density developments. A developer who opts for a density bonus
receives more units in return for providing amenities such as
underground parking, parkland, landscaping, public art, daycare
facilities, price-controlled units, rental units and preservation of
heritage features.
Suburban development actually increases housing prices over time.
Even though per hectare land prices are higher in urban centres than
at the periphery, suburban lots and houses tend to be larger. If a
community is growing predominantly through suburban expansion
without developing more compactly in core areas, building larger
homes on larger lots at the urban fringe means that the per unit
cost of housing increases even though the land costs are lower. This
can sway the total housing stock in favour of larger single family
homes in suburban locations, and away from more affordable types
such as apartments and townhouses. |
A secondary suite is an accessory dwelling located within the
structure of a principal single-family detached dwelling, townhouse
or strata titled apartment. Secondary suites create affordable
housing in serviced areas without changing the character of
neighbourhoods. They increase the number of residents living in an
area, thus making neighbourhood commercial uses and transit more
viable, and increase the diversity of housing types. They also
increase property tax revenues for municipalities. Several BC
municipalities found that parking and noise complaints did not
increase when secondary suites were legalized, and a high degree of
support for suites remains in those communities.
Researchers with the Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC have
mapped neighbourhood risk factors for children and the location of
where most children live in communities across BC. Their results
show that families with children are concentrated in commercial
districts and transportation zones, rather than in neighbourhoods
that have amenities, such as parks, that provide important support
for early childhood development. Their primary policy
recommendations are to integrate affordable housing into all
neighbourhoods and provide greater access to transit and other
amenities in lower-income neighbourhoods. |
The construction of new rental housing is becoming rare in many
communities. Several municipalities have regulations specifying the
conditions under which the redevelopment of affordable rental
housing to condominiums or other uses such as hostels will be
allowed, and others are offering density bonuses in return for
rental units.
Because the market will not supply all forms of housing,
municipalities are becoming innovators with non-profit housing
corporations to integrate non-market housing into neighbourhoods. BC
municipalities support the development of non-market housing by
contributing staff time and services, donating land, providing
long-term leases on municipal land, and decreasing or eliminating
parking requirements.
A ten-year study in seven BC communities showed that social
housing projects had no negative effect on the sale price of
single-family detached homes in the same neighbourhood. In all
cases, average sales prices had increased substantially since the
non-market homes were constructed.
Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services,
Impact
of Non-Market Housing on Property Values (2000) |
Many communities use design guidelines for infill, industrial,
commercial and multi-family developments. Design guidelines can
ensure that new development is attractive and fits into a
neighbourhood. They can be formally adopted as part of development
permit areas and rezonings.
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