In a heated real estate market like North Vancouver’s, local governments are trying to formulate policies to ensure that a diverse range of housing options remain available.
The District of North Vancouver has already adopted several steps to ensure a supply of rental and affordable housing, but 2016 will likely be a year when some additional steps are put in place to ensure the area remains economically and socially diverse.
Council is engaged in a series of workshops on the subject and the public’s input will be sought shortly, said Dan Milburn, deputy general manager of planning and permits for the district.
The district is using Metro Vancouver’s draft affordable housing strategy as a template.
The primary goals of the process are to: expand the supply and diversity of housing; to preserve and expand the rental supply; to meet housing demand estimates for low and moderate income earners; to increase housing supply along transportation corridors; and to end homelessness in the region.
While considering formal incentives and options to increase housing availability – and therefore reducing costs at the entry-level real estate stage – officials are already encouraging developers to come up with innovative approaches.
“We have a number of developers who are looking at various sites in the community and we have been suggesting to them that they take a close look at our current official community plan policies for affordable housing as well as listen to the conversation the council’s having right now and to know that we’d be happy to receive their input on what kinds of innovative affordable and rental housing practices might work for them on their properties,” Milburn said.
In recent years, the district has encouraged single-family homeowners to integrate secondary suites and there are now 4,212 registered secondary suites in the district. Coach houses – stand-alone homes on the same property as an existing residence – have also been approved on a case-by-case basis, with two already approved and two more under consideration.
Milburn noted that almost every new single-family home being constructed in the district recently includes a secondary suite component.
The upcoming public consultation process will be focused mostly on multi-family residential construction, but Milburn said single-family homeowners can also participate by considering what they think is important for themselves and their family and what they think the community needs.
After an additional council workshop in late January, council will open the process up to public input.
