More Rungs on the Housing Ladder

Head: Know the Housing We Need

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.

On housing, Cranbrook has done a lot of homework. The gaps in the housing market have been identified by 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/temporary housing

The fastest-growing group of homeless in BC is senior women. Almost 50 percent of Cranbrook’s new housing is needed for one-person households. Over half of the identified housing need identified here is for households earning $15,000–$39,999 per year.

A big part of the problem is that real estate developers and home builders make significantly more money on middle and luxury homes than on starter homes. A massive portion of a home’s price comes from non-negotiable, fixed costs like permits, utilities, foundations and trade mobilization. And those costs are nearly identical for a small house as a larger one.

The goal isn’t just more housing. It’s about more of the right housing. Cranbrook’s housing strategies are thoughtful. The vulnerability is implementation.

Hands: Build the Gaps

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

1. Get builders and developers on board
   There are actions the City can take right away to motivate private enterprise to build the homes we need faster:
   • Federal construction grants, like Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund, can issue City-direct cash-per-door grants to builders who construct “missing” starter options like smaller homes, townhomes, duplexes and backyard suites.
   • Pre-approved building plans for multiplexes and coach houses can skip months of bureaucratic review and pull permits almost immediately.
   • Zoning and regulatory fast tracks — like reducing parking requirements.
   • Density bonuses — give incentives for builders to maximize the number of suites on a lot with higher-density housing.
   • New subdivisions to require affordable homes with middle and luxury construction.
   • Revitalization tax exemptions during construction for builders.
   The idea is to make rental and other higher-density projects financially competitive enough so developers actually build them.
2. Target these incentives — but don’t simply give them away
   Growth should still pay its fair share. However, if Cranbrook has a clearly identified housing gap, we should be willing to consider targeted incentive in exchange for a measurable public benefit.
3. Make sensible infill easier — build an extra suite on existing lots
   Cranbrook already changed zoning in response to BC’s Bill 44 so up to four units can be permitted on residential lots that previously allowed only one or two. Homeowners can now build at least one secondary suite like a basement suite or an Accessory Dwelling Unit — a garden suite, coach house or laneway home — in low-density residential zones.
   • Got an undocumented basement suite? Secondary/basement suites are automatically permitted inside a principal residence in low-density residential zones. Cranbrook officially extended its amnesty grace on undocumented basement suites until April 2027. If you come forward now to legalize an existing basement suite, the City waives building permit fees, development cost charges and extra utility fees associated with the suite.
4. Explore partnerships to put City land to strategic use
   This could be huge. The City could issue proposals for housing projects on municipal land to create affordable seniors housing, low-rent and non-market housing and support housing. The strategy includes donating the land, or long-term nominal leases with direct partners like non-profits, Indigenous housing initiatives, BC Housing and private partners.
5. An independent non-profit housing society or steering committee
   Implement a municipal housing corporation, an independent non-profit housing society. Revelstoke has a wonderful model, where grants and partnerships help build affordable rental housing with municipal support.
6. A development coordinator to address hold-ups and facilitate communication
   Let’s put someone within the City who connects building projects to funding and local resources, promotes better communication with developers, improves the online permitting portal, creates clearer development guides and makes efforts to identify what is holding projects up. This person could work with housing and economic development.
7. Incentives for staff housing
   Provide tax or other incentives for businesses to build or provide housing for their workers. This may go beyond municipal jurisdiction, but it’s worth pursuing.
8. Insurance, landlords and tenant damage
   Houses and suites in principal residences sit empty because renting a home is a risk. Insurance does not pay for “intentional, criminal or gradual damage” caused by a tenant. So if a tenant punches holes in the drywall, smashes appliances, fails to report a slow leaking tub, or operates an illegal grow-op, the landlord’s policy generally will not help. This leaves a significant risk where insurance regularly falls short. Targeted advocacy by the City would be primarily focused at the provincial level. And while the City doesn’t have the capacity to fix insurance and tenancy issues, it can advocate to increase rental resources.
9. Build what we are missing, while considering the limited resources we have
   Every proposed solution should pass three tests:
   • Cost — What will it cost Cranbrook taxpayers now and over time? What building incentives are being offered? Which actions can we afford?
   • Capacity — What can we realistically deliver? Do we have the staff, land, infrastructure and ability to deliver it? What is holding the project up?
   • Leverage — Rather than putting the whole burden on Cranbrook taxpayers, how much private, provincial, federal, First Nations, non-profit and other investment can we bring alongside City resources? CMHC, BC Housing and other programs can bring millions of dollars into housing and infrastructure. Cranbrook needs to be ready with the partnerships, projects and applications needed to compete for it.

Heart: A Home for Every Stage of Life

Housing policy can get buried in words like zoning, density, DCCs (Developer Cost Contributions) and unit targets. But housing isn’t really about any of those things.

• 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 organization can find an affordable place to live.
• 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. Rather build so more people can find a place in Cranbrook and call it home.