MORE RUNGS ON THE HOUSING LADDER

Cranbrook needs more homes. But the answer isn’t just more doors.

A senior looking to downsize is looking for something different than a young family trying to buy a first home. A nurse and her family moving to Cranbrook needs something different than someone living on disability. A single person working at a restaurant has different needs again.

The goal isn’t just more housing. More rungs on the ladder means more of the right housing.

HEAD: Know the Housing We Need

On housing, Cranbrook has done a lot of homework. The gaps have been identified in Cranbrook’s Housing Strategy and Housing Needs Reports. These missing rungs include:

• Affordable entry-level homes
• More regular rentals
• Lower-cost rentals
• Non-market (social) housing
• Senior housing
• Supportive housing with staff assisting
• Transitional and temporary housing

The Housing Strategy estimated Cranbrook needs about 1460 additional homes by 2031. Almost half of that need is for one-person households. Over half is for households earning under $40,000 per year.

Seniors are among the people most at risk of falling off the ladder, senior women are the fastest growing group of homeless in BC. The Cozy Bear Lodge — 31 supportive homes, mainly for older adults — is one new rung. We still need more..

A big part of the problem is that builders make more money on middle and luxury homes - A large share of a home’s price is fixed: permits, utilities, foundations, getting trades on site. Those costs are nearly the same for a small house as a larger one.

Thus the goal isn’t just more housing. It’s more of the right housing.

Cranbrook’s housing strategies are thoughtful. The vulnerability is implementation.

HANDS: Build the Gaps

Cranbrook already has good ideas on the table. We need to prioritize them and get them moving.

Get Builders and Developers on board - There are actions the City can take to make the missing homes worth building:

• Chase federal and provincial tools — including programs like the Housing Accelerator Fund — and aim any cash-per-door help at starter options: smaller homes, townhomes, duplexes and backyard suites.
• Pre-approved plans for multiplexes and coach houses so permits move instead of sitting in review.
• Zoning and process fast tracks, including sensible parking rules.
• Density bonuses for more suites on a lot when the public benefit is real.
• New subdivisions include affordable homes alongside middle and luxury construction.
• Targeted tax exemptions during construction of homes we need.

The idea is to make rental and other higher-density projects competitive enough that someone actually builds them.

Target incentives - don’t just give them away - Growth should still pay its fair share. If Cranbrook has a clearly identified housing gap, we should consider a targeted incentive in exchange for a measurable housing benefit.

Make sensible infill easier - Cranbrook changed zoning under BC’s Bill 44 so up to four units can be permitted on many lots that used to allow only one or two. Homeowners can now build a secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit, a garden suite, coach house or laneway home, in low-density residential zones.

Got an undocumented basement suite? - Cranbrook extended its grace period for existing non-conforming suites to April 30, 2027. If you come forward now to legalize an existing suite, the City waives building permit fees, development cost charges and extra utility fees on that suite. After that, those breaks end.

Put City land to work - Issue proposals for housing on municipal land: seniors housing, low-rent and non-market homes, supportive housing. That can mean donating land or long-term nominal leases with non-profits, Indigenous housing partners, BC Housing and private builders.

Create a housing connector, not another plan on the shelf - Explore a municipal housing corporation or independent non-profit society — Revelstoke has a working model — and put a development coordinator inside the City whose job is to find what is holding projects up, improve the permitting portal, and connect builders to funding.

Help employers house workers - A worker who cannot find a home leaves. Then you post the job again. Incentives for staff housing may reach past City Hall. They are still worth pursuing.

Advocate on insurance and tenant damage - Suites often sit empty because renting is a risk. Insurance generally will not cover intentional, criminal or gradual tenant damage. The City cannot rewrite provincial tenancy and insurance rules. It can push Victoria to make renting a basement suite a reasonable bet.

Build what we are missing — with the resources we have - Every proposal should pass the same three tests I will use on safety and the budget:

COST - What will it cost Cranbrook taxpayers now and over time? Which incentives can we afford?

CAPACITY - Can we actually deliver it? Do we have the staff, land, water, sewer and partners? What is holding it up?

LEVERAGE - How much private, provincial, federal, First Nations and non-profit money can we bring in so Cranbrook is not carrying the whole load?

And measure it - Are we adding the missing rungs — or just more of the housing that was already going to get built?

HEART: A Home for Every Stage of Life

Housing policy gets buried in words like zoning, density, DCCs and unit targets. That isn’t what people mean. It’s about whether your kids can afford to stay in Cranbrook. Whether a young family can find a home to start. Whether the person working in the hospital, restaurant, construction site or non-profit can find a place they can pay for. Whether a senior can move into something smaller and accessible without leaving the community they love. Whether someone who has fallen off the housing ladder has somewhere safe to land — and a way up.

A healthy housing market lets people move up the ladder, downsize when the time is right, and get back on when life knocks them off.

That’s what I mean by more rungs on the housing ladder. Not just build houses. Build so more people can find a place in Cranbrook and call it home.