3507 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

Freeland touts 'affordable' development renting 330-square-foot units for $1,600

 

 

The deputy PM also quoted the novelist Margaret Laurence, saying that B.C. is like 'dying and going to heaven' for Prairie people

 

“This is an apartment building that has 227 apartments for low and middle income Canadians and it was built thanks to our Apartment Construction Loan Program,” said Freeland in a video shot at the site of Hudson House, a new 23-storey rental high-rise in Victoria, B.C.

 

https://nationalpost...ordable-housing

[Victoria Watcher]

On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland flew to Victoria, B.C. for the opening of a new apartment tower funded by a $100-million federal affordable housing loan. Freeland lauded the apartment block as the future of Canadian housing and an example of the Trudeau government’s commitment to build “more homes, faster.”

 

Such initiatives, Freeland boasted, would help end the housing affordability crisis.

 

The truth, however, is far removed from Freeland’s hype. Someone may as well have said to her, “The people are unable to afford roofs over their heads, Madame Minister,” to which she could easily have replied, “Then let them move into government-subsidized housing.”

 

What Antione-Freeland didn’t mention (but should have) is that the Hudson House development, which benefited greatly from Ottawa’s Apartment Construction Loan Program, offers rents that are more expensive than average rents in the B.C. capital.

 

That hardly makes this the way forward to more affordable housing.

 

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the average rent in Victoria is $1,516 a month for an apartment of just about 700 square feet. Meanwhile, at Hudson House, the cheapest rent is $1,680 a month – 11% above average.

 

And that is for something called a “micro-suite,” which is half the size of the average Victoria rental. At 330 square feet, reporters who attended Freeland’s announcement described the micro-suite as about the size of two parking stalls.

 

It has a tiny – tiny – bathroom, a kitchen that runs along the wall opposite the living room-dining room-bedroom, which contains an eating table by day that tucks out of the way for the fold-down bed to come out of a wall at night.

 

 

 

https://www.msn.com/...hv2?ocid=iehp6g

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 March 2024 - 09:27 AM.

[Nparker]

When did a politician ever let facts get in the way of a good spin?

[dasmo]

330 sqft. This is the future of housing? I was paying $1200 for a 1800 sqft townhouse with a garage in North Park only 22 years ago….

It’s not like we lack space. They can decimate 235 hectares just outside Sooke for a solar farm. So surely they can spare a few sq feet for the homes of their serfs?

[Victoria Watcher]

Saanich’s annual housing report shows lower home prices, rising rents

With a growing population, council trying to clear path for building of affordable homes




Saanich home prices are hovering at a level slightly below 2022’s all-time highs, while rent prices for most unit types continue to march upwards, according to a housing report to be delivered to the district council Monday (March 18).

https://www.vicnews....g-rents-7331027

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 March 2024 - 01:11 AM.

[dasmo]

How can they change house prices exactly? More socialism is what we have been doing….

[Victoria Watcher]

Average median rent in Saanich is up to $1,470, according to the report, up from about $800 a decade ago. This median cost takes into account long-time renters, so it is less that what an average asking price would be for a new renter.

Statistics for that are not available in Saanich, but Victoria has studied asking prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments, which are up to an average of $2,101 and $2,714, respectively.

The report also details the net change in the number of rental units available in Saanich over the years. It shows that in 2022 the district actually lost more than 100 rental units, and in 2023 only gained about 80.

In terms of overall housing development, the report details that construction of new units is actually increasing after a bit of a pandemic lull, with 2023 having the highest number of approved building permits and the third-highest number of housing completions in the past six years.

Meanwhile, the population in the district continues to rise, with a projected population in 2046 of 152,497 — the last year data is available for is 2012, when the population of Saanich was 117,735 — needing an estimated 15,413 new dwellings.

[Mike K.]

The last year population data was available is 2012? What about the 2016 and 2021 censuses?

[Victoria Watcher]

Conceding its first attempt at expediting sought-after affordable housing projects missed the mark, the District of Saanich will tweak its non-market housing policy to better fast-track non-profit and co-operative housing projects.

 

Monday night, council approved tweaks to its non-market housing policy that will give priority to non-market projects, co-operative housing and mixed-use residential projects that are owned and operated by non-market housing providers.

 

Changes to a policy first adopted in 2019 also include those projects being given preference throughout the process from pre-application to completion while all other projects will be dealt with on a first-come first-served basis.

 

“Intentions were good when council gave the direction [in 2019], but the scope was too wide,” said Mayor Dean Murdock.

 

Essentially the previous policy allowed almost anyone with a rental project to be considered a priority if they provided a bare minimum of affordable units.

 

 

https://www.timescol...beaches-8467963

[Mike K.]

The province has announced funding for 867 units of below-market homes on Vancouver Island:

 

Central Saanich, 1183 Verdier Ave.: 110 homes for families and seniors, in partnership with Capital Region Housing Corporation

 

Nanaimo, 1125 Seafield Cres.: 62 homes for seniors, in partnership with Woodgrove Senior Citizens Housing Society

 

Port Alberni, 2866 4th Ave.: 40 homes for families and seniors, in partnership with M'akola Housing Society

 

Saanich, 3781 Cedar Hill Rd.: 95 homes for intergenerational housing, in partnership with Luther Court Society

 

Saanich, 3950 Cedar Hill Rd.: 200 homes for families and seniors, in partnership with Capital Region Housing Corporation

 

Victoria, 11 Chown Pl.: 77 homes for families and seniors, in partnership with the Gorge View Society

 

Greater Victoria (address to be announced at a later date): 186 homes for families and seniors, in partnership with Capital Region Housing Corporation

 

Greater Victoria (address to be announced at a later date): 97 homes for families and seniors, in partnership with Capital Region Housing Corporation

 

 

I wonder what the two outstanding projects are. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Ottawa to launch $6B infrastructure fund to help build homes — with strings attached

 

 

The federal government says $1 billion will be available to cities for urgent infrastructure needs, while $5 billion will be allocated for agreements with provinces and territories to support long-term priorities.

 

But the Liberal government is attaching strings to the funding available for provinces and territories, noting the money will only flow if they commit to a series of actions.

 

They include adopting the recently announced renters’ bill of rights, which would create a national standard lease agreement and require landlords to disclose previous rent prices.

 

Liberals also say future public-transit funding will require municipalities to meet certain criteria, including eliminating all mandatory minimum parking requirements and allowing high-density housing within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line.

 

 

https://www.cheknews...tached-1197616/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 April 2024 - 07:52 AM.

[Nparker]

October 2025 cannot come a moment too soon.

[Victoria Watcher]

The other $5 billion will be set aside for provinces and territories, but they can only access the funding if they make certain commitments.

 

Those include allowing more "missing middle" homes, including duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and multi-unit buildings, and a three-year freeze on development charges for cities with more than 300,000 people.

 

The federal government said the provinces will have until Jan. 1 to secure an agreement. Territories will have until April 1.

 

If agreements aren't reached, the money will flow directly to cities.

 

The federal government is also topping up its housing accelerator fund with an additional $400 million over three years, which it says will help build another 12,000 homes, Trudeau announced Tuesday.

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...using-1.7161005

 

 

topping up its housing accelerator fund with an additional $400 million over three years, which it says will help build another 12,000 homes, Trudeau announced Tuesday.

 

 

 

Err, 3,703 new immigrants arrive here - per day.   So what is the above, 10 days' supply?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 April 2024 - 08:00 AM.

[Nparker]

As long as immigration levels remain outrageously high, all the taxpayer money in the world isn't going to make the slightest difference.

[dasmo]

Meanwhile, the other side of the mouth..... 

[Tony]

Wow, that error should have been picked up since it is so visual in the Power BI graph and not hidden in numbers!

[dasmo]

The decline in the birth rate is also something to note. Hidden as green against blue. 

[Nparker]

The decline in the birth rate is also something to note. Hidden as green against blue. 

That is still no argument for 1,000,000+ new residents in Canada in the past year.

[lanforod]

What error?

 

The birth rate thing is odd. It's well known that it dropped over the years, but theres a newer drop since Covid. Why?