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November 12, 2008 The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Housing Awards Program identifies, recognizes, showcases and shares best practices that have helped to improve the quality, choice and affordability of housing in Canada. Every second year, the Program honours the people and organizations creating affordable housing solutions across Canada and helps share their best practices with communities across the country.
July 17 2008 Draft housing strategy recommends legalizing secondary suites There may be between 200 and 300 illegal secondary suites already in North Saanich, and the draft housing strategy prepared for the district suggests that the way towards affordable, diverse housing is legalizing the existing suites and allowing more to be built.
Smart Growth BC has published a toolkit that provides detailed explanations of eight tools and strategies, from inclusionary zoning to land banking, and highlights examples of best practices across BC demonstrating how local governments are adapting affordable housing strategies to fit their unique needs. It addresses the gap between 100% market-rate housing and 100% social housing. April 24 2008 Housing affordability is becoming a critical issue in the country — particularly in Victoria which is the second-most expensive city in Canada to buy a home, says the regional vicepresident of Re/Max Western Canada. “Affordability is on the top of...read more in the Times Colonist article
While fortress-like clusters of up-market condos sprout around the city, the working poor crowd together in budget motels. Who’s to blame for Victoria’s broken rental market and what could be done to fix it? Read the full article that appeared in Monday Magazine, April 2, 2008.
In less than three years, 30 affordable houses have been built through Langford’s affordable housing initiative. “It’s one of those programs where you actually can see things happen without having to take tax dollars that are put into a program and...Link to Times Colonist article for more information
Victoria NDP MP Denise Savoie is throwing her weight behind a bill before the House of Commons to give landlords a tax incentive to buy low-cost residential rental property. Link to Times Colonist article for more information.
If you’ve created a unique solution to enhance housing affordability in Canada, it is time you received the national recognition you deserve! CMHC is interested in receiving applications demonstrating best practices that have improved housing affordability. These initiatives may include large or small projects and demonstrate various ways to create affordable housing that meets the needs of the communities they serve. Visit the CMHC website for more information
Secondary suites offer homeowners a variety of benefits and increase the amount of safe, affordable housing in Victoria. As of June 2007, single family homes in the City of Victoria, regardless of age or the availability of an extra parking space, may be eligible for secondary suites. To maintain a neighbourhood’s character, there is a house size requirement and only limited exterior changes are allowed. You are invited to attend an information session at Victoria City Hall on Tuesday, April 8, from 7 pm – 9 pm. Visit the City of Victoria website and click on What's New for details.
More than $170 million worth of apartment buildings changed hands last year in Greater Victoria, tripling the dollar volume of transactions done in 2006, according to Colliers International’s apartment market overview. Link to Times Colonist article for further information.
Three new case studies on housing affordability are now available in the Case Studies section of this website:
January 28, 2008 Oak Bay has about 10 new houses a year. About eight are created from knocking down older houses, and the other two from creating new lots on larger lots. Oak Bay bylaws allow each home to have two boarders, but not a suite. Saanich too is considering suites, but is taking it very slowly. A questionnaire put out in conjunction with the municipality's review of its Official Community Plan showed that about 75 per cent of those who responded were in favour of legalizing suites. View Royal has legalized them, as has Sidney and most of Victoria, with suites in the Gonzales area right next to the Oak Bay border. Link to Times Colonist article for further information..... January 18, 2008 Metchosin basement dwellers need more elbow room, residents say. More than 70 per cent of residents favour increasing the size of attached secondary suites to about 90 square metres (969 square feet). However residents were not as keen on allowing stand-alone secondary suites on larger properties (over two acres). Only 55 per cent of residents who responded favoured the detached suites. "The report was clear on expanding the size of the attached suites, and I think that's going to be a fairly easy decision for council to make," Mayor John Ranns said. Link to Times Colonist article for further information .... January 10, 2008 The developer of a proposed 56-unit condominium project at the historic Mount St. Angela site on Burdett Avenue isn't looking to make any money out of the project. Rather, Norm Isherwood has the financial means and the desire for any profit go into a trust to run an additional nine rental units designated solely for elderly women in need of housing, project planner Roger Tinney said this week. "Mr. Isherwood was born and raised in the building and he'd like to leave a legacy," Tinney told a group of about 30 people who gathered to see the final plans for the contentious project before it goes to a public hearing on Jan. 17. "This is very much a personal project for Mr. Isherwood." Link to Times Colonist article for further information.... January 3, 2008 The Internet servers at B.C. Assessment are likely to be humming over the next few weeks as homeowners around the province jump onto its website to check out the value of their homes and compare that with values given friends and neighbours. "By far our most popular tool is ASBA (the assessment and sale by address)," said B.C. Assessment's Nick Nilsen. "People can go on there and compare their properties to others that have sold in the neighbourhood and compare to their neighbours." He admits there's probably a bit of peeking over the fence going on because people are generally curious. Link to Times Colonist article for additional information and link to BC Assessment .... January 3, 2008 Kim Linkert found validation with a click of a mouse yesterday. The Victoria homeowner, who along with wife Karen bought a $210,000 Montrose Avenue home in 2001, noticed his home is now assessed at $473,000 after surfing the B.C. Assessment website. The impressive return on investment didn't come as a surprise to Linkert, who tends to keep a close eye on his investments, but did reinforce his belief that real estate is one of the best investments you can make. Link to Times Colonist article for futher information..... January 3, 2008 The assessed value of Greater Victoria's homes in 2008 has climbed to $83.7 billion, an increase of nearly $10 billion from last year's roll, according to figures released yesterday by B.C. Assessment. The numbers, based on property market values as of July 1, 2007, reflect a steady increase, according to Brian Hawkins, assessor for the region. The majority of homes in the region will have increased by between eight and 12 per cent, slightly off last year's average of 15 per cent. "It's been basically the same story here for the last five years," said Hawkins. He credits the continued strength in the market to the capital region's being a "desirable location," as well as the stable mortgage rate and low unemployment rate. Link to Times Colonist article for additional information..... |
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