Central Okanagan home builders call on Kelowna to help lower the cost of a home
As Kelowna continues its soaring growth housing needs are on the rise and the Central Okanagan branch of the Canadian Homebuilders Association has some recommendations for the city and other municipal governments in the region.
The City of Kelowna recently released a Housing Needs Assessment report that highlighted a notable deficit in housing and a great need for more housing to accommodate the city’s rapid development.
The assessment for 2021-2031 outlines the amount, type and number of homes required to respond to Kelowna’s rapid growth. The assessment shows a current deficit of up to 5,000 homes and an estimated 20,130 homes needed to respond to the city’s next decade of growth.
This estimation represents more than a doubling of the Official Community Plan that had previously aimed at a target of 1,300 new housing units in the next decade. That number now stands at 2,647 new units every year for ten years.
“The Housing Needs Assessment is a great first step to returning housing to the realm of affordability, but it will take time," Daniel Winer with the Canadian Home Builders Association in the Central Okanagan said in a media release issued today, Sept. 12.
“Kelowna has been issuing building permits at a record-breaking pace, but economic uncertainty is causing delays. It will take a focused effort from elected officials, city staff, and industry to reach these ambitious targets.”
The most notable challenge right now is the lack of workers needed to build these housing units, the homebuilders association said. The average number of construction workers for one unit in B.C. in 2021 was 3.3. In contrast, Alberta’s was 8.4. This low number in the province can be associated with retiring legacy trades workers as well as high costs of living, and a lack of promotion of trades careers.
Another challenge Kelowna is faced with is the expensive costs of building. In fact, Development Cost Charges are charged on a unit level, not a lot level. So, building a townhome with two units would cost twice the amount when compared to the building of a single-family home that may have a secondary suite on the same lot. These fees stand at around $45,000.
The homebuilders association has come up with multiple recommendations to achieve housing affordability in the Central Okanagan such as lower development fees and charging “per lot” as opposed to “per door.”
It also recommends the local gov continue encourage rezoning for multi-family housing and "missing middle housing including duplexes, row homes and townhouses.
It would like to see the city lobby higher levels of government and partner with the school district and post-secondary schools to encourage tradespeople to stay in the Okanagan to work and live.
The association would like to see a municipal housing affordability task force struck similar to the existing crime task force created last year.
Also on the wish list is the continued streamlining of the permit process by using artificial intelligence.
Kelowna's Housing Needs Assessment is the first step of the process that will be followed in the months ahead by the city's Housing Strategy.
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