APPENDIX C: COMPLETED SUMMARY FORM FOR HOUSING NEEDS REPORTS

Housing Needs Reports – Summary Form

MUNICIPALITY/ELECTORAL AREA/LOCAL TRUST AREA: Town of View Royal REGIONAL DISTRICT: Capital Regional District DATE OF REPORT COMPLETION: July 2020 (MONTH/YYYY)

PART 1: KEY INDICATORS & INFORMATION

Instructions: please complete the fields below with the most recent data, as available.

LOCATION

• Neighbouring municipalities and electoral areas: Langford, Colwood, Esquimalt, Saanich, Highlands
• Neighbouring First Nations: Esquimalt First Nation, Songhees First Nation

POPULATION

• Population: 10,408
• Change since 2019: (since 2006) 19 %
• Projected population in 5 years: 12,500
• Projected change: 20.1 %
• Number of households: 4155 (2016)
• Change since 2019: (since 2006) 24 %
• Projected number of households in 5 years: 5210
• Projected change: 25.3 %
• Average household size: 2.4 (2016)
• Projected average household size in 5 years: 2.3
• Median age (local): 44 (2016)
• Median age (RD): 44.8 (2016)
• Median age (BC): 42.5
• Projected median age in 5 years: 46.9
• Seniors 65+ (local): 17.6 %
• Seniors 65+ (RD): 17.6 %
• Seniors 65+ (BC): 17 %
• Projected seniors 65+ in 5 years: 19.5 %
• Owner households: 72 %
• Renter households: 28 %
• Renter households in subsidized housing: 11 %

INCOME

ECONOMY

• Participation rate: (2016) 64 %
• Unemployment rate: (2016) 3.8 %
• Major local industries: public administration, health care and social assistance, retail trade, education services

HOUSING

Briefly summarize the following:

1. Housing policies in local official community plans and regional growth strategies (if applicable): Several tools and initiatives have been undertaken to support the development of diverse new housing forms and tenures. These initiatives include: (1) Secondary Suite Bylaw, 2015 (2) Official Community Plan (OCP) 2011, being reviewed in 2020 (3) Decommissioning of Unauthorized Secondary Suites, 2012 (4) Zoning Bylaw, 2014, (5) Guide to Secondary Suites, 2014 (6) Development Cost Charge Bylaw, 2019 (7) Community Amenity Contribution Policy, 2019

2. Any community consultation undertaken during development of the housing needs report: Four stakeholder workshops and nine interviews were hosted for key stakeholders to foster meaningful understanding and discussion with housing users; housing providers, and service providers. The four workshops were held on November 28, 2019.

3. Any consultation undertaken with persons, organizations and authorities (e.g. local governments, health authorities, and the provincial and federal governments and their agencies). Interviews were conducted with stakeholder representatives from Island Health, Cool Aid Society, CFB Esquimalt, South Island Prosperity Project, WestShore Camber of Commerce, Our Place, Camosun College, Threshold Housing Society, and United Way.

4. Any consultation undertaken with First Nations: [No text provided in original document]

PART 2: KEY FINDINGS

Table 1: Estimated number of units needed, by type (# of bedrooms)

Comments: [No text provided]

Table 2: Households in Core Housing Need

Comments: Renters are about 5 times as likely to be in core housing need as owners; renter households represent 63% of households in core housing need, but only about 28% of all households.

Table 3: Households in Extreme Core Housing Need

Comments: As of 2019, there are at least 91 renter households in extreme core housing need.

Briefly summarize current and anticipated needs for each of the following:

1. Affordable housing: The increase in housing costs is outpacing the rise incomes in View Royal. While median household income grew by about 0.6% per year between 2006 and 2016, home prices grew by between about 4% and 6% per year (depending on type) between 2010 and 2018. Local housing is mostly single-detached, which is unaffordable for all median earners.

2. Rental housing: While the Town has made significant gains in developing purpose-built rental and secondary suites, this growth in purpose-built rental and secondary suites is not keeping pace with demand - the vacancy rate for primary rental was 0.7% in 2019. Core housing need is largest in renter households, indicating a need for additional non-market supports.

3. Special needs housing: Vulnerable groups in the Town are increasingly unable to access housing that meets their various needs, including people with addictions and people with mental or physical health issues. There is need for more market rental, non-market rental, and affordable ownership options and it will be important to continue to contribute to regional efforts.

4. Housing for seniors: By 2038, over one-third of households could be led by seniors, showing a need to support the development of accessible housing that will allow seniors to age in place, with proximity to transit and services, and more compact forms of growth. Supporting non-market seniors' housing and developing age-friendly initiative can also help

5. Housing for families: The single-family home is the most dominant form – these are unaffordable for all median-earning household types, including couples with children. There is need for more entry-level and missing middle options, such as townhomes, which are relatively more affordable and can offer enough bedrooms to meet families' needs.

6. Shelters for people experiencing homelessness and housing for people at risk of homelessness: Homelessness data specific to View Royal is not available. Vulnerable seniors currently live in RVs at the Fort Victoria site on a semi-permanent basis and may have few or no other options for long-term housing in the Town or in the region.

7. Any other population groups with specific housing needs identified in the report: There is a need for options for the working poor and missing middle who are making between about $30,000 and about $100,000 a year – these households are neither low enough to enter into housing assistance or high enough to shelter them from market pressures. Individuals in the working poor category do not have many program options.

Were there any other key issues identified through the process of developing your housing needs report?

There is need for a range of non-market housing options to serve a range of lower-income populations through various measures, including incentives, to signal support for these types of housing developments. Other vulnerable groups like youth, Indigenous people, and single parent households are increasingly unable to access housing that meets their various needs.