The Columbia Shuswap Regional District has been left out in the cold when it comes to the province’s new Secondary Suite Incentive Program (SSIP).
Even though the regional district has the required building bylaws, building permits and inspection services in most of the district, including Electoral Areas B, C, E, F and G, the legislation makes the entire CSRD ineligible to participate as not all the electoral areas in the regional district have building regulations and inspections.
“The CSRD finds this approach extremely unfair,” wrote board chair Kevin Flynn in an April 19 letter to Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. “By including regional district electoral areas that do meet the legislative requirements, the SSIP’s efforts would create a more inclusive, affordable and sustainable housing market for all BC residents.”
Through the SSIP, a qualifying homeowner can receive up to 50 per cent (up to $40,000) of the cost of renovating to create a secondary suite on their property.
In a July 6 reply, the minister noted that, after the initial release of SSIP criteria, the province responded to interest from regional districts by expanding eligibility where possible within the existing program structure. He reiterated that BC Housing relies on existing local government building permit and inspection services to ensure that the homes built are legal and safe for tenants and owners.
“Regional districts with differential access to building permit and inspection services could not be accommodated without additional costs and implementation delays,” he wrote. “As well, since SSIP encouraged homeowners to begin projects prior to the program launch, there was a risk that homeowners without those services could have taken on thousands of dollars in construction costs only later to be found ineligible for the program.”
Kahlon wrote that based on the risks where local government building services are not available, the province chose to launch the program with more restricted eligibility while continuing to do the needed work to inform future program expansion.
“Ministry staff have noted that there are a small number of unincorporated municipalities within the CSRD where homeowners cannot obtain building permits or inspections from either local government in their area,” he wrote. These include Electoral Area A (Parson, Nicholson, Donald, and Blaeberry, and the Town of Field) and Electoral Area D (Falkland, Deep Creek, Ranchero, Salmon Valley, Silver Creek, and Gardom Lake). ‘Unfortunately, these homeowners will not be able to meet the requirements of the program but we are committed to finding ways to continue to expand access to this program.”
In the meantime, he said the province is happy to extend eligibility to any regional district or incorporated municipality that makes changes that enable all homeowners to access required building services for the SSIP program.
This, he said could include a bylaw amendment to enable those outside of regional district building service areas to voluntarily opt-in and receive permits and inspections.
“We understand there are cases where this is not possible, and we continue to explore other options that would support future SSIP expansion,” he wrote. “As a three-year pilot program, SSIP will be closely monitored and evaluated to inform changes and improvements over time.”
Kahlon’s letter was received as information at CSRD’s July 18 board meeting where Area G director Natalya Melnychuk asked if the planning department was going to explore options within the parameters outlined in Kahlon’s letter.
Chief administrative officer John MacLean assured Melnychuk that a presentations on secondary housing options would be presented to Electoral Area Directors meeting in August.
