Greater Victoria municipalities fall short on housing supply: report

As the population on southern Vancouver Island continues to grow, housing supply is not keeping up with demand and rents are going up.

“In Oak Bay, they’ve only approved three new units since the new municipality was elected years ago,” said Philip MacKellar from housing affordability advocacy group, Homes For Living.

New data released by the group shows that Oak Bay finished last when it came to housing units built to meet the estimated annual need.

“There are gaps in the housing in Oak Bay and council has recognized that,” said Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch. He says that is going to change in the coming years.

Council is in public consultation to develop a strategic plan on infill housing.

“Infill housing is things like duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and other housing forms that can exist within single-family neighbourhoods and complement them,” said Murdoch.

Once that is complete, the focus will turn towards the major corridors like Oak Bay Avenue and Cadboro Bay Road. The mayor says those areas are appropriate for multi-family dwellings.

There seemed to be buy-in from people enjoying the day along Oak Bay Avenue on Tuesday.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Greg Clarke. “It will support more public transit and more amenities.”

“It would be nice if there was a little bit more open-mindedness to some more development here,” said Maureen Simpson.

“Build more, yes,” said Theresa Lumsdon.

Esquimalt finished second worst in the new report. But Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said more housing is on the way, including 2,200 units already approved by council.

Saanich council is currently working on a 20- to 30-year plan to redevelop the Uptown corridor that would add around 4,000 new units of housing to the area.

Adam Cooper is the chair of the board for the Urban Development Institute Capital Region. He says in order to meet the region's housing needs, red tape needs to be cut at city hall to encourage development.

“You could range anywhere from maybe eight months in a good case [to approve a development] to three years in a poor case,” said Cooper.

He says when a municipality adopts an official community plan that targets growth in certain areas, zoning could be changed at the same time to streamline the application process.

The mayor of Saanich says that is already happening in certain areas of the municipality and Oak Bay council is currently working to implement the same strategy.