Affordable Housing: Building Creston's Future

On January 24th the Town of Creston adopted the Creston Housing Action Plan. The HAP includes 19 recommended actions, which are grouped by these four priority areas:

1. Overall housing: Actions to increase the supply of more affordable housing generally (both rental and ownership) that those with low and moderate incomes can afford.
2. Non-market housing: Actions that will increase non-market housing supply (primarily rental given the current market context) for households with lower incomes and larger households in the moderate-income category.
3. Rental housing: Actions that will increase the supply of rental housing generally (including market and non-market).
4. Lower-priced ownership housing: Actions that will increase the supply of lower-priced homes, including manufactured homes, duplexes, rowhouses, townhouses, co-housing, and efficiently-sized strata condos – sometimes called the “missing middle.”

Staff have developed an Implementation Plan outlining first steps and timelines for the actions described in the HAP. Council will be provided with reports on each of the actions for consideration prior to implementation.

Check out the sidebar to view the plan!

Creston's Draft Housing Action Plan

Are you a renter or landlord in Creston? Get to know the Rental Standards. Read our recent mail-out HERE.

An Affordable Housing and Development Committee Meeting has been scheduled for Monday June 13, 2022 at 1:30 pm.

This meeting will be held in Council Chambers, located at 238-10^th Avenue North, Creston B.C. and is open to the public.

The agenda is available here: https://pub-creston.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=3a19c5a2-b1c1-4eca-bc4b-9cc4ca39a6d5&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

As part of the Town of Creston’s efforts to improve rental housing and support renters in a limited market, a new bylaw was adopted by Council outlining a minimum standard of rental housing in Creston.

The Rental Standards of Maintenance Bylaw includes regulations to ensure the quality, safety, and livability of rental units addressing standards related to water leaks or damage, provision of heat, fire safety, functionality of doors and windows, pests, and mould.

The bylaw applies to all rental properties where the Residential Tenancy Act applies in the Town of Creston. This includes rental apartments, rented condo units, secondary suites, garden suites, and unauthorized suites. It provides a detailed description of the landlord’s responsibility for repairs and maintenance of rental properties. The bylaw, which is only applicable within municipal boundaries, provides detail on minimum standards for heating systems, hot water, infestations, exterior walls, roofing, elevators, fire escapes, etc. If a landlord refuses to make certain repairs, then a Bylaw Complaint can be made to the Town of Creston. Upon complaint, the Public Safety Compliance Officer may inspect the rental property and work with the landlord to correct identified issues. This may lead the Public Safety Compliance Officer to issue warnings and fines to a landlord, or otherwise enforce the bylaw. Further, the bylaw could be used as evidence for a repair order at a Residential Tenancy Branch dispute resolution hearing.

The bylaw aligns with existing resources provided by the Province under the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA), provides clear expectations to landlords, and creates a framework to measure compliance in the Town of Creston. The Residential Tenancy Branch remains responsible for investigating complaints and enforcing Provincial standards.

The Town of Creston does not anticipate any significant impacts to most landlords. The RTA remains the most important legislation for repairing and maintaining rental properties to comply with health, safety, and housing standards required by law. The Town of Creston Rental Standards of Maintenance Bylaw allows the municipality to support renters within the Town of Creston, giving them a recourse to ensure their housing is healthy and safe.

On March 9, 2022 the Town of Creston held a public meeting to discuss the Affordable Housing situation in Creston. There were 59 community members in attendance, representing a variety of local organizations and non-profits, business owners, land owners, investors, builders, developers, realtors and tenants. Town staff, Council, and RDCK Area A were also present. Chief Administrative Officer Michael Moore began the discussion by overviewing affordable housing related data, primarily based on information from the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) Housing Needs Report, released in 2020. He specifically highlighted that rental housing in the RDCK has a less than 1% vacancy rate and that current rental prices are exceeding what is affordable for community members. “Affordable Housing, by definition, means that no more than 30% of the total household income, before taxes, is spent on housing. This includes utilities, taxes and other costs associated with housing. If a household is spending 50% or more of their total household income on housing costs, they are in extreme housing need,” Moore said.

Margaret Durnin with the Creston Valley Community Housing Society (CVCHS) spoke to the ongoing work of the CVCHS in addressing the housing affordability issue in Creston. The meeting was then opened up to attendees for input, comments, and solutions on how, as a community, we can address the affordable housing situation moving forward. The public comments underscored the complex issues our community faces with housing.

Due to the keen response received at the meeting to generate practical solutions, staff recommended to Council that an Advisory Select Committee for affordable housing be formed. Staff will develop the Terms of Reference for this committee and advertise for committee membership in the coming weeks.

“Affordable housing doesn’t just mean ‘low-income housing’. This is now a problem for 58% of tenants, and 12% of homeowners in Creston. It’s a complex issue that can’t be solved overnight or by any one organization. We need housing that everyone can afford. We need land, we need builders, we need investors,” said Moore following the meeting. “Most of all, we need the community to work together.”

The Town of Creston hosted an Affordable Housing Discussion on March 9, 2022. There was almost 60 people in attendance including: land owners, contractors, developers, realtors, businesses, organizations/non-profits and the general public. The purpose of the meeting was to educate everyone on the current situation, and to come up with ideas of how we can start moving forward as community, to solve this complex issue.

Mike Moore, Chief Administrator for the Town spoke on the Affordable Housing issue in Creston. You can view his presentation by clicking HERE.

In 2015, the median income for owner households was $57,218 and $23,700 for renter households. Statistics Canada reported that approximately 22% of Creston residents were considered "Low Income", making less than 50% of the median household income in 2015. The RDCK report estimates that the number of unaffordable homes in Creston has grown approximately 30% from 2006 to 2016. According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), less than 1% of rentals in the RDCK were vacant in 2019. These statistics suggest that Creston is experiencing a growing need for affordable housing stock, specifically rental properties.

Based on 2019 income estimates, a median couple household can likely afford all dwelling types in Creston (single-detached, duplex, row house, semi-detached, manufactured). However, single parents cannot reasonably afford a single-detached home, and singles cannot reasonably afford any dwelling (RDCK, 2020). The Creston Official Community Plan (2017) noted that the Creston Valley Community Housing Society identified that young families were the demographic in the greatest need of low-cost housing in 2012. The RDCK report indicated that 57% of surveyed rental households in Creston live in a home that places them outside of their financial means (based on the 2016 Census) and that renter households are about eight (8) times more likely to be in Core Housing Need, compared to those that own their home. In addition, approximately 16% of Creston renters are identified as being in Extreme Housing Need and spend more than 50% of before-tax income on shelter costs.

On January 11th, 2022, Council adopted the new Town of Creston’s Residential Revitalization Tax Exemption Bylaw No. 1944, 2021. A Residential Revitalization Tax Exemption (RTE) Program is a tool that may encourage rental housing development. An RTE, specifically providing tax exemptions for the construction of residential rental dwelling units, would support the development of overall housing stock, addressing one component of affordable housing. Many factors play into eligibility for the program. However, there are two key components – a new dwelling unit must be constructed, and the owner must enter into a 'Housing Agreement'. The Housing Agreement secures the rental unit for 10-15 years, ensuring long-term rentals for occupants.

The RTE encourages:

• Purpose Built Housing
• Multi-family developments
• Secondary suites

Affordable housing is a complex issue, and there is no silver-bullet solution. However, an RTE focused on rental housing is an important measure to increase long-term rental inventory.

In addition to the RTE, the new zoning bylaw allows for more flexibility when developing secondary suites in your home or on your property. Those choosing to build a secondary suite can take advantage of the RTE program.

Find out more HERE