Housing crisis

An information session on the program will be held Wednesday Aug. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Nootka Rose Atrium at the Langford Business Centre, 211-2840 Peatt Rd. Pictured is an apartment building on Orono Avenue. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

Applications open for Langford’s attainable homeownership program

Program opens with limited offerings; 1-BR and 1-BR plus den units available

 

A California school district is hoping to attract more teachers by providing them with affordable housing. (Associated Press/screenshot)

VIDEO: California school district builds affordable housing to attract teachers

Rising rent, teacher shortages piquing districts’ interest in workforce housing

 

Federal Housing Minster Ahmed Hussen at a housing announcement in Esquimalt on July 6. (Jake Romphf/ News Staff)

Federal minister says housing changes could mean more funding for Victoria

Federal Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen met with Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps

 

Oak Bay community members participate at a design fair for the second round of public engagement on the district’s infill housing strategy. An initial round of public engagement found 88 per cent of Oak Bay residents support the implementation of infill housing. (Courtesy District of Oak Bay)

Survey finds almost 90 per cent of Oak Bay residents want infill housing

Planners prioritize flexible housing options while preserving look and feel of district

Oak Bay community members participate at a design fair for the second round of public engagement on the district’s infill housing strategy. An initial round of public engagement found 88 per cent of Oak Bay residents support the implementation of infill housing. (Courtesy District of Oak Bay)
Victoria’s missing middle housing proposal will likely have a public hearing in early August after council reconsidered a timeline that would’ve likely passed the issue on to the next municipal term. (Courtesy of City of Victoria)

Public hearing on Victoria’s missing middle proposal eyed for mid-summer

Council reconsidered a timeline that likely would’ve passed the proposal to the next term

Victoria’s missing middle housing proposal will likely have a public hearing in early August after council reconsidered a timeline that would’ve likely passed the issue on to the next municipal term. (Courtesy of City of Victoria)
Could matching people needing housing with homes with empty pillows through home sharing help solve Vancouver Island’s housing problem? (pixabay file)

Can Vancouver Island’s empty bedrooms help solve the housing crunch?

40% of Campbell River bedrooms empty, coalition hopes to fill them through home sharing

Could matching people needing housing with homes with empty pillows through home sharing help solve Vancouver Island’s housing problem? (pixabay file)
Residential areas currently zoned for single-family homes – most of Victoria outside downtown – would be rezoned to allow for townhomes and houseplexes under the city’s proposed missing middle strategy. (Courtesy of City of Victoria)

Victoria residential rezoning proposal aims to keep families in the city

Missing middle initiative seeks to advance neighbourhood townhomes, houseplexes

Residential areas currently zoned for single-family homes – most of Victoria outside downtown – would be rezoned to allow for townhomes and houseplexes under the city’s proposed missing middle strategy. (Courtesy of City of Victoria)
A real estate sign is pictured in Vancouver, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS Jonathan Hayward

’Dramatic imbalance’ between supply and demand at core of B.C.’s housing problem: analyst

Rising interest rates likely to have only a temporary cooling effect on housing demand

A real estate sign is pictured in Vancouver, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS Jonathan Hayward
Laurel Collins is the NDP MP for Victoria. (Courtesy Laurel Collins campaign)

MP says throne speech leaves Victorians in the dark for a sustainable economy

The speech announced the country’s first disaster adaptation strategy

Laurel Collins is the NDP MP for Victoria. (Courtesy Laurel Collins campaign)
BC Rent Bank helps people stay out of homelessness. Black Press stock photo.

BC Rent Bank sees daily applications triple in first day after province-wide roll out

Microloan program available in all areas of province

BC Rent Bank helps people stay out of homelessness. Black Press stock photo.
Chinna Reddy Katireddy (right), managing director of Macropus Homes, is working hard to help find Mitch Lowry (left), one of his employees, a rental apartment in the area. (Robert Barron/Citizen)

Rental crunch leaves Island worker sleeping in his cold truck for more than a month

High costs, lack of options making it hard for construction worker to find shelter near his work

Chinna Reddy Katireddy (right), managing director of Macropus Homes, is working hard to help find Mitch Lowry (left), one of his employees, a rental apartment in the area. (Robert Barron/Citizen)
Creating the ability to build housing options such as these townhomes near Royal Jubilee Hospital is the goal of a proposed change to neighbourhood residential zoning in the City of Victoria. (Rendering submitted)

Victoria seeks resident opinions on ‘missing middle housing’ proposal

Rezoning neighbourhoods to add density is the goal of proposed change

  • Nov 3, 2021
Creating the ability to build housing options such as these townhomes near Royal Jubilee Hospital is the goal of a proposed change to neighbourhood residential zoning in the City of Victoria. (Rendering submitted)
B.C. has the highest rate of evictions in the country according to a new UBC study. File Photo

UBC study finds more than 10 per cent of B.C. renters report being evicted

Province has highest rate of eviction in Canada — by almost 4 percentage points

B.C. has the highest rate of evictions in the country according to a new UBC study. File Photo
Modular housing is a cost-effective way of providing needed housing quickly, says B.C. Housing. (Contributed - B.C. Housing)

First modular affordable housing building eyed for Sooke

The four-storey, 75-unit project is located at 2170 Charters Rd.

Modular housing is a cost-effective way of providing needed housing quickly, says B.C. Housing. (Contributed - B.C. Housing)
BC Housing minister David Eby. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)

Eby jabs back against Penticton mayor’s ad urging BC Premier to intervene in shelter dispute

Eby writes that Penticton’s ‘serious’ social issues won’t improve under leadership of the mayor

BC Housing minister David Eby. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)
Pat Kauwell, a semi-retired construction manager, lives in his fifth-wheel trailer on Maxey Road because that’s what he can afford on his pension, but a Regional District of Nanaimo bylaw prohibits using RVs as permanent dwellings, leaving Kauwell and others like him with few affordable housing options. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Rules against RV living hard on Island residents caught in housing crunch

Regional District of Nanaimo bylaw forcing pensioner to move RV he calls home off private farm land

Pat Kauwell, a semi-retired construction manager, lives in his fifth-wheel trailer on Maxey Road because that’s what he can afford on his pension, but a Regional District of Nanaimo bylaw prohibits using RVs as permanent dwellings, leaving Kauwell and others like him with few affordable housing options. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
This walk-up, three-storey apartment building off Oak Bay Avenue in Victoria is the type of mid-density housing that is not actively being built in Oak Bay. (Travis Paterson/News Staff)

Where will the missing middle go in Oak Bay?

People are chomping to get at a housing plan, says Coun. Andrew Appleton

  • Mar 18, 2021
This walk-up, three-storey apartment building off Oak Bay Avenue in Victoria is the type of mid-density housing that is not actively being built in Oak Bay. (Travis Paterson/News Staff)
On Nov. 16, Saanich council received the 2020 Housing Needs Report which provides a summary of the district’s housing market and the anticipated future needs of the municipality. (District of Saanich)

New report highlights need for diverse, affordable housing in Saanich

Saanich Housing Needs Report shows current supply doesn’t meet community needs

On Nov. 16, Saanich council received the 2020 Housing Needs Report which provides a summary of the district’s housing market and the anticipated future needs of the municipality. (District of Saanich)
The province purchased a property on Yates Street to build permanent supportive homes. (Google Maps)

Yates Street property purchased for up to 40 units of supportive housing

Victoria project will be one of 480 homes for homeless in development across CRD

The province purchased a property on Yates Street to build permanent supportive homes. (Google Maps)
Mary-Jane Sabbas and Clay Raymond got a three-day ban from Our Place for inappropriate behaviour. During extreme weather protocol activation, however, shelters cannot ban people. (Nicole Crescenzi/News Staff)

Victoria homeless advocates desperate for additional shelter space in extreme weather

Current homeless shelters ‘bursting at the seams’

Mary-Jane Sabbas and Clay Raymond got a three-day ban from Our Place for inappropriate behaviour. During extreme weather protocol activation, however, shelters cannot ban people. (Nicole Crescenzi/News Staff)