There's no place like (an affordable) home

Forum brainstorms solutions to Richmond housing crisis

by Nelson Bennett

June 10, 2009 | Richmond Times | Richmond, Ontario

If affordable housing advocates are serious about addressing the housing crisis in Richmond, maybe it's time to consider releasing land from the Agricultural Land Reserve.

That is just one suggestion, coming from a local commercial real estate broker, to address the land pinch that contributes to high housing costs here.

But there are other suggestions for dealing with the crisis. A variety of them, from carving up larger houses into mini-apartment buildings to expanding co-operative housing, will be considered at a special action forum Thursday.

Sponsored by the Richmond Community Services Advisory Committee (RCSAC), the forum is the culmination of a series of study circles held to discuss affordable housing, or the lack thereof, in Richmond. The forum runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Richmond Cultural Centre at Minoru Gate and is open to the general public.

Despite the recession, housing in Richmond remains pricy, whether you are buying or renting.

"We certainly have the highest home prices in the country, and we have a tight rental market," says Robyn Adamache, senior market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

A year ago, rental vacancy rates in Richmond were just 0.5 per cent, according to CMHC. The forecast for Metro Vancouver is to move to vacancy rates of 1.2 per cent this year.

"It's still a low vacancy rate," Adamache said.

Low vacancy rates contribute to high rents. It is bad enough for working families; for some seniors, the disabled, single parents and recovering addicts and alcoholics, it is even worse.

"We do not have adequate affordable housing here," says RCSAC member Belinda Boyd.

Politicians at all three levels of government have acknowledged there is a problem with housing affordability here, but so far, they have done little to address the problem, at least not in Richmond.

The price of land here is a big part of the problem.

"The land is so damned expensive, and it's expensive because of supply and demand," says Lawrence Lim of Mayfair Commercial.

Richmond's land base has some fairly serious constraints on it. For one, it is located next to an airport, so there are height restrictions that limit the ability to increase density by going up.

Moreover, roughly half of the city's land base is locked in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Lim says releasing some land from the ALR would allow for more affordable housing and for the creation of more industrial land, which would increase employment.

"I totally disagree," says Bob Ransford, an urban design consultant. "I think, as a society, we've come to the conclusion that agricultural land is important to food security."

Ransford's biggest concern is with the municipal approval process for development.

He cites a 1,000-unit development he is working on in Vancouver as one recent example.

"I'm in my 20th month - prior to a rezoning," he said.

Ransford said there are things that can be done to increase housing supply and housing diversity in Richmond.

The B.C. government recently passed legislation allowing for wood-frame buildings to be built to six storeys, for example.

Since it's cheaper to build with wood than cement and steel, there could be opportunities for some relatively cost efficient densification by converting three-and four-storey walkups to six stories.

A number of suggestions have also come out of the series of recent study circles.

One is to expand Richmond's co-operative housing inventory. Richmond already has 17 co-operative housing projects throughout the city, with long lineups of people wanting in.

"Richmond has done a really good job of weaving that throughout (the city)," Boyd said.

Most co-ops operate by requiring tenants to put down a deposit - typically $1,500 to $2,000 - and rent is capped well below the market price. For example, two-bedroom townhouses at the Terra Nova Co-op rent for just $742. But to get off the ground, co-ops need senior government funding.

Coun. Linda Barnes said there may be some opportunities for the city to work with existing housing cooperatives to expand because some of the older ones have nearly paid off their mortgages.

David Reay, who lives at the Klahane Co-op and is vice-chairman of the Richmond Poverty Response Committee, said there may be opportunities for co-ops that pay off their mortgages to use some of that financial leverage to densify, but added that some older co-ops may also have maintenance issues that could be costly to fix.

Another suggestion made at one of the recent study circles is the so-called Abbeyfield home approach, in which larger houses are divided up into six to eight units.

The problem there is that people living in single-family neighbourhoods tend to oppose such developments because they fear it will ruin the character of their neighbourhoods.

Indeed, apart from lack of government support, a big impediment to social housing is NIMBYism.

When the Turning Point Society proposed a housing project for recovering addicts on Ash Street, for example, the reaction from the neighbourhood was so vigorous the society never even bothered submitting a rezoning application.

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