SHBC

Key insights:

The City of South Bend recognized that the community needed to have more housing, and at the same time, bring neighbourhoods back to life. There were around 400 vacant lots in one of the city’s neighbourhoods (Near Northwest Neighbourhood) alone.

In June, 2022, Mayor James Mueller announced the New Neighborhood Homes Initiative. The main goal of this initiative is to build more homes that South Benders can afford and to ensure well-designed infill housing on vacant land that will increase the marketability of those neighbourhoods. Furthermore, housing market studies also revealed a growing mismatch between the available housing stock of large single-family homes and a shift in demographic trends towards smaller households that prefer walkable neighborhoods.

This Small Housing Case study explores how the City recognized that fostering more diverse housing options could play an important role in meeting those needs and creating a high quality of life for residents.

California’s housing supply shortage is among the worst in the USA. One strategy that has been consistently promoted by housing advocates to address this challenges is to increase the supply of accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Key insights:

California grapples with one of the most acute housing shortages in the USA. Advocates propose a solution: boosting the supply of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). These standalone residences, either attached or detached from the main dwelling, reside on the same lot. Despite state law granting ADU permission since 1982, cities constrained their development, citing concerns about parking, neighborhood dynamics, and property values.

This Small Housing Case Study explores the work undertaken by the Casita Coalition – a state-wide, multi-sector organization committed to increasing the supply of small-scale, affordable housing options – in their advocacy for a bill to eliminate barriers to ADU development, enabling cities to decide on ADU sales. Passed in fall 2023, the law takes effect in 2024, allowing California cities and counties to “opt in” for ADU sales.

Key insights:

Like many other cities in California, Encinitas has been challenged to meet the demand for diverse and affordable housing. Very little undeveloped land remains in the city, so it is difficult for new construction to keep pace with increasing housing needs. Housing prices are high, as are rents. Infill housing, including accessory dwelling units (ADUs), is a crucial element in the City’s plan to boost supply and provide a diverse range of housing types.

This Small Housing Case study explores how the state and city have responded to the housing crisis by passing new laws and ordinances to encourage the construction of ADUs.

Key insights:

The City of North Vancouver is steadily growing, with a population increase between 2016 and 2021 of 10%, and with this comes housing supply challenges.

In recent years, as part of a broader suite of measures, the City has allowed for secondary suites in single-family and duplex zones and also allows coach houses in virtually all single-family zones. Amidst increasing property values in recent years, so too has the demand for gentle density and one off rezonings grown.

This Small Housing Case Study explores how the level of resources for managing applications of this scale is an issue that both staff and Council are interested in addressing through a Zoning Bylaw overhaul in 2023. The report details how solutions may involve creating better base zones (to allow for quicker rezonings) or pre-zoning for gentle density.

Explore the City of Surrey’s innovative policy on Fee-Simple Rowhouses, a pivotal component of their gentle density strategy.

Key insights:

Fee-simple rowhouses stand apart from strata townhouses, offering full ownership of both building and land. This ownership model eliminates strata fees and rules, allowing property changes without strata approval, while individual owners manage their properties.

In 2012, Land Title Act amendments from the Province mandated Party Wall Agreements for fee-simple rowhouses, outlining responsibilities for shared components.

This Small Housing Case Study outlines how, despite initial concerns such as perceived drawbacks from this style of home including shared walls impacting noise and privacy, Surrey’s fee-simple rowhouses have thrived. They have provided an alternative in a transitioning market from detached homes to townhomes, and have been a central catalyst in inspiring similar projects in Surrey neighborhoods.

Key insights:

The Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) is one of 27 regional districts in BC and has been exploring means to further support gentle density infill forms through the reduction of as many barriers as possible to support the development of additional housing units.

The Regional Housing Needs Assessment for the North Okanagan identified that housing affordability and supply across the housing spectrum (non-market to market) is one of the most significant challenges for communities within the region and is predicted to worsen.

This Small Housing Case Study explores how the Regional Housing Strategy identified several actions to help lessen the costs and increase the supply of affordable housing units, including the concept of pre-approved plans for Secondary Dwellings.

Key insights:

The fast-growing District of Squamish (22% increase since 2016) has allowed duplexes in a large portion of the community for many years now. Starting in 2015, the District began to change single family zoning to allow for accessory dwelling units and secondary suites.

As this Small Housing Case Study details, recent years has seen the District of Squamish’s gentle density approaches has expanded into triplexes and cottage clusters, while past and current neighbourhood planning process are expanding missing middle housing options in established areas through infill. Looking forward, the District will consider additional opportunities for increased housing diversity and infill housing, potentially across broader areas through density bonus structures.

Key insights:

The City of Burnaby is steadily growing, with a population increase between 2016 and 2021 of 7%. The City allows for in-law suites and secondary suites in single family dwellings, secondary suites in duplexes, and laneway homes. Demand for secondary suites has been quite strong in Burnaby due to the strong family ties within resident families and other housing factors.

This demand resulted in up to 5,000 unauthorized secondary suites being created to 2014.

As this Small Housing Case Study details, a policy to support authorized secondary suites was adopted in 2014 in order to start keeping track of the units and ensure compliant construction for safety. Now there are close to 1,800 permitted suites and an estimated additional 4,000+ suites unpermitted as tracked by the declaration form.

More recently the City has introduced a program called Housing Choices, to explore and encourage housing options in the city to bridge the gap between single family homes and apartments/condos.

Older central Montreal neighborhoods, developed in the early 20th century, are among Canada’s densest urban areas. This is achieved through the iconic Montreal “plex” design, stacking two or three apartments on narrow lots without sacrificing livability or relying on high-rise buildings.

Key insights:

The older neighbourhoods in central Montreal – developed in the first half of the 20th century – comprise some of the densest urban areas in Canada, something that is achieved without sacrificing livability or frequent recourse to high-rise buildings.

As this Small Housing Case Study outlines, the key to this puzzling success is the iconic Montreal “plex”, i.e., the stacking of two (“duplex”) or three (“triplex”) apartments on narrow (20-25 feet) lots with each apartment having its own front and back door and civic address.

This convivial solution that nicely combines density, livability, affordability, and conservation, iconic to Montreal, flourished in the first half of the 20th century but then fell victim to changing building regulations in the post-war period. A demand for this traditional housing solution eventually led to a relaxation of building regulations and return of the plex as an acceptable housing solution.