According to CMHC, there has been a 20% increase in housing starts in Greater Victoria (1,572) from January to May 2024 vs the same period last year (1,312). Yet there is a 92% decline in City of Victoria housing starts with only 20 units vs 247 last year – likely due to the length of time to approve and start construction on large multi-family projects. Also, despite passing a revised missing middle bylaw to boost townhomes and small multiplexes, there are only 3 year-to-date. Their numbers represent the cost of doing business in Victoria, which many builders avoid due to excessive regulations and fees. Significant financing and economy of scale and must be achieved to address all of the costs. For example, their ill-advised deconstruction bylaw adds tens of thousands of dollars to replace an older home with a new home. It is a pointless exercise because landfills and builders already recycle much of the construction material. VRBA recommended an incentive program, however Victoria prefers to acquire more revenue via fees and penalties – all added to the cost of housing.
There are 1,306 units from large multi-family projects, 122 single family and 145 townhomes, duplex, etc. There has been a big shift to large multis due to high construction costs, government fees, taxes and regulations, and high interest rates. Monthly housing data will be skewed based on the timing/appearance of these large projects.
Most of the new housing is in Langford (799), representing 51% of all new housing in our region. They are followed by Colwood (331), Saanich (247), View Royal (69) and Sooke (63). Esquimalt has 17 new homes, Sidney and Oak Bay have 10, North Saanich has 4. Sidney has seen a sharp decline since the new council was elected in 2022. Their housing starts for 2023 don’t even equal the first 5 months of previous years. Also doing poorly are the municipalities posting zero starts – Central Saanich, Highlands, and Metchosin.
Some municipalities ratcheting up regulations and fees to obstruct the province’s legislation enabling up to 6 units on single family lots. Oak Bay recently approved a bylaw increasing the site setbacks and reducing the building height of missing middle housing vs the recommendations in the province’s site standards manual. This manual should be mandatory, not optional.
Some also calculate floor area to include exterior siding, and require additional permit approvals for soil removal despite an approved building permit obviously requiring an excavation. There is a disconnect at all government levels regarding the ongoing layering of regulations and fees on new housing, putting housing further out of reach for young families.
In addition, the BC government announced a new program called BC Builds, however these programs are ineffective at addressing market housing supply and affordability for the general population.