Section B: Housing — Continued

Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results

Ministry Goals and their Linkage to
Government's Five Great Goals

In order for British Columbians to have safe and stable housing, the Housing Department provides leadership in creating a range of housing choices that spans the housing continuum and meets the needs of the province's most vulnerable citizens. The linkage between the Housing Department's mandate and two of government's Five Great Goals — (1) build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, special needs, children at risk, and seniors and (2) lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness — is displayed in the following Ministry Service Plan Summary.

Service Plan Summary

While the core business area for the Housing Department is housing and homelessness, for practical purposes the department has divided the business into three functional units. Associated with each unit are specific goals and objectives as outlined below.

Housing Policy

The most acute need for housing is found among low income people who have special housing and support needs. Included in this group are people with mental or physical disabilities, the frail elderly, the homeless or those at risk of homelessness and individuals or families who have experienced domestic violence. Government's response to this group is not limited to housing, but also to providing health and other social supports. This group is often referred to as "the most vulnerable".¹ Research indicates that by providing adequate, stable and affordable housing to the most vulnerable, government can reduce its costs in health care and other social service areas.²

With the emphasis on fiscal sustainability, government housing assistance is shifting away from a broad-based approach with potential eligibility available for any low income household or person considered to be in Core Housing Need.³

The new approach stresses meeting the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. Housing resources would first and foremost be used to meet the needs of priority vulnerable groups. This focused approach requires increasing the transitional nature of social housing and developing programs to move social housing tenants along the housing continuum, from government dependence to self-sufficiency.

Integration of housing services, supports and resources is required to improve people's graduated independence along the housing continuum from temporary shelters — to transitional housing — to supportive or permanent housing.

Recent research indicates that the most effective approach to addressing homelessness is the "continuum of care" model. The model emphasizes the delivery of supportive housing with integrated support services. Benefits are not only better health and personal outcomes for homeless people but also avoidance of higher cost institutional services (i.e., hospitals, emergency health services and correctional facilities).

With the shift to serving BC's most vulnerable citizens first in subsidized housing, linking housing with other social supports has become increasingly important. This shift will require clearly defined roles and responsibilities as well as new working relationships among the partners supporting vulnerable subsidized housing tenants. Partnership strategies and initiatives are key to ensuring the availability of appropriate programs and services.

Performance Measures:

1. Develop a comprehensive provincial housing strategy — The development of a comprehensive provincial housing strategy will assist government to understand its role and responsibilities, identify and mitigate housing gaps, and help ensure a safe and stable housing system. To be completed by spring 2006.

2. Percentage of tenants belonging to assisted priority groups — Current priority groups include frail seniors, persons with physical or mental disabilities, and individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including women with their children fleeing abuse. The target reflects the number of households currently living in subsidized housing or receiving assistance in the private market that come from one of the designated priority groups who face a combination of challenges in addition to low income. The percentage of households assisted from one of the designated priority groups will continue to increase as existing units turn over and new units reach completion.

3. Number of frail and low income senior households assisted through provincial housing programs — Demonstrates the provinces commitment to meeting the needs of frail and low income seniors by reporting on the number of senior households assisted through the Independent Living BC program and existing housing resources.

Homelessness is a serious issue faced by some British Columbians. As a first step in addressing the needs of the homeless, government provides emergency shelter bed funding to community agencies to assist individuals who are temporarily without accommodation. Funding provides for year-round beds and is enhanced during the winter months, when additional beds are needed most.

The economic and social cost of homelessness to Canadian communities is extremely high. Recent research in British Columbia estimates the cost of homelessness at $30,000 to $40,000/person for one year.⁴ The IBI Group estimates that the societal cost of homelessness in Canada is approximately $1.4 billion per year.⁵ The greatest expenditures are in health care, criminal justice, social services and shelters. Ensuring vulnerable populations have access to secure housing and support services at an early stage reduces the demand and costs on institutional and emergency support systems.

Performance Measure:

Percentage of available shelter beds accessed — Measuring success in alleviating homelessness is very difficult because of the transient nature of the population and the lack of information collected. This measure allows government to track emergency shelter bed usage and will help ensure resources are allocated where they are needed most.

Affordable rental housing in the private market is becoming increasingly scarce, particularly in Greater Vancouver and Victoria. The Vancouver CMA⁶ vacancy rate is 1.3 per cent with Victoria's CMA vacancy rate even lower at 0.6 per cent.⁷ This is due primarily to the lack of new affordable housing supply, coupled with a booming economy and an in-migration of workers.

There is minimal construction and investment in affordable rental housing in the private market and those units being added are in the higher rent ranges. Evidence suggests that in spite of the high levels of demand, market rent levels are below the levels required to generate a reasonable return on investment.

Investor-owned condominiums and secondary suites in new and existing homes are areas where affordable rental housing is still growing. Over the past few years, the province has worked closely with local governments to promote the development of affordable market rental housing and permissive secondary suite bylaws and this work will continue.

To enhance affordability and increase housing options, tools, guides and workshops are developed in partnership with local governments, non-profit housing providers and industry. Planning guides assist with addressing a number of housing issues: secondary suite programs, community planning initiatives, design guidelines, financial incentives and land use planning and zoning tools. Legislation has been introduced to allow developers access to purchasers' deposit monies if those monies are appropriately insured. By lowering development costs, it is expected that the consumer will benefit.

As well, benefits under the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) program need to keep pace with rising rents in the private rental market in many parts of the province. Out-of-date rent ceilings have meant that a large percentage of low income seniors in high cost areas were not eligible to receive maximum benefits under the program and faced significant housing affordability problems. In areas where land costs have risen dramatically, seniors who own manufactured homes found that rent for the land on which their homes sit in manufactured home parks was consuming a large percentage of their limited incomes. Enhancing the SAFER program will help senior renters to continue living independently in their own homes.

The ability to impact market housing affordability is limited. Local governments are best placed to improve the affordability of market housing through innovative planning and development practices. The province is committed to improving access to information on best practices in this area.

As part of an educational strategy, the department is working with local governments and industry stakeholders to develop and deliver customized workshops on improving market housing affordability. Best practices, case examples, and break-out sessions allow participants to delve more deeply into what has worked in other municipalities and the suitability of replication.

Every three years starting in 1996, the province has surveyed all local governments to measure the use of planning tools that promote housing affordability. The results of the survey are summarized and published, and are useful for local governments to describe advances in planning for housing affordability.

Performance Measure:

Percentage of local governments in communities over 100,000 that apply affordable housing planning tools and techniques — Use of these tools indicates local governments are enhancing their capacity and moving toward the goal of improved housing affordability.

Land use patterns dictate the character of communities in BC and the costs of infrastructure and servicing development. Land use patterns are planned by local governments and built by private individuals and corporate sector interests.

Partnerships between those who plan and those who invest have the potential to result in better decisions for local governments, which also benefit provincial areas of interest such as housing affordability.

The provincial government can serve as a catalyst for innovation by acting in partnership with local governments and other housing participants. Projects include the study of the potential introduction of Location Efficient Mortgages, as well as developing building regulations for repurposing existing buildings. In addition, the Homeowner Protection Office supports, through partnerships, a number of industry research initiatives.

Performance Measure:

TBD. This measure will be reported in the 2006/07 Service Plan.

To account for the large variations in rent in different parts of the province, SAFER program rent ceilings need to be updated to reflect the costs of homes available for rent to low income households. Updated rent ceilings will raise average benefit levels for many seniors, significantly increase the number of eligible seniors, improve fairness, and help to improve the system of support for seniors. Because manufactured homes are a viable and affordable housing option for many seniors, the SAFER program will be expanded so that rent paid for manufactured home sites is also eligible for assistance. Once the changes are in place and newly eligible beneficiaries apply for the program, spending on SAFER is expected to approximately double.

Performance Measure:

TBD. This measure will be reported in the 2006/07 Service Plan.

Residential Tenancy Office

The Residential Tenancy Office provides landlords and tenants with information and dispute resolution services, including arbitration services.

The residential tenancy arbitration system is, by nature, adversarial. This process frequently does not contribute to the Residential Tenancy Office's objective of promoting "harmonious landlord/tenant relationships". Mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution may, in many circumstances, provide a better resolution for both parties than would an arbitration decision.

At present there are limited consumer protections available for tenants who live in assisted living tenancies. The application of provincial legislation to supportive housing is generally determined in arbitration on a case by case basis. An arbitration system to resolve landlord/tenant disputes is not well suited to either tenancy arrangement as many of the tenants are particularly vulnerable.

There are a number of models for dispute resolution, including mediation, investigation and statutory decision making, and joint solution resolution. The department will work to ensure that vulnerable peoples have an appropriate consumer protection regime to rely upon for tenancy related disputes.

An important objective of the department is an effective residential tenancy system where landlord-tenant disputes are resolved in a timely manner. Key strategies to meet this objective include improving the quality of residential tenancy information, and providing information and services efficiently through systems improvement. With improved access to and quality of residential tenancy information, parties are more likely to resolve disputes, thereby reducing demand on the arbitration system. This improves access for those parties who remain in dispute. Improved information resources help to ensure that parties in dispute are better prepared for arbitration.

Performance Measures:

1. Percentage of residential tenancy arbitrations scheduled to take place within six weeks or less — This measure reflects the ability of government to meet the statutory time limits for arbitration. The more quickly disputes are resolved, the better the rental market can function.

2. Percentage of residential tenancy disputes resolved without arbitration — This measure reflects our ability to resolve disputes using non-adversarial techniques. These techniques are more cost-effective and timely.

Building and Safety Policy

The department is responsible for the adoption of various codes and standards relating to the system by which building safety is achieved. The new BC Building and Fire Codes will be adopted by the province in 2006.

Through administrative agreements, the BC Safety Authority and ten local governments are delegated responsibility for compliance monitoring under the Safety Standards Act. Municipalities are authorized to enforce the BC Building and Fire Codes under the Local Government Act and the Fire Services Act.

Rapid technological change and innovation will continue to have implications for building safety and the regulatory environment. Modern and flexible building safety legislation is key to an efficient and effective safety system. The department must undertake regular reviews of the policy and legislative framework. This will help ensure the system provides sufficient flexibility for stakeholders to implement the latest technologies, while maintaining or enhancing safety, health and accessibility.

However, even with modern legislation and a flexible delivery system, no system is failsafe. Human error alone will result in incidents. The department will monitor these incidents, including investigations into cause, and where appropriate, implement changes. Indicators are being developed by the BCSA to report on incidents, injury and deaths in the safety sector.

In addition, regulations, codes and standards will be developed to enable innovation and create efficiencies by harmonizing with other jurisdictions. The next editions of the BC Building and Fire Codes will be published in an objective-based code format. This provides the rationale behind the regulation and enables greater flexibility in its application.

Performance Measures:

1. Objective-based BC Building and Fire Codes⁹ adopted — The new codes will enhance the ability of the construction industry to adopt innovative building techniques while achieving the same level of safety. To be adopted in 2006.

2. Percentage of code users benefiting from objective-based BC Building and Fire Codes — Stakeholders will be surveyed to measure whether the new codes achieve their objectives of maintaining safety while allowing greater flexibility for users. The survey will be conducted three years after the codes have been adopted to allow time for users to assess its effectiveness.

3. Safety trends by sector are maintained or improved — The BC Safety Authority, through its delegation agreement, is charged with maintaining or improving safety outcomes. This measure assesses the performance of the province's technical safety framework in achieving acceptable public safety outcomes.

Active collaboration with a full range of stakeholders is essential to the development of sound and widely supported recommendations for a better-functioning system. Over the past year, stakeholders have been actively engaged in identifying opportunities for system improvement. This initiative, the Modernization Project, will result in recommendations for rationalizing and modernizing the building safety regulatory system. Implementation will span several years.

In April 2004, the Safety Standards Act consolidated four separate safety acts (electrical, gas, boiler and pressure vessel and elevating devices) into a modern, flexible regulatory structure. However, individual safety regimes for these technologies will benefit from further improvements in the regulations. Working with stakeholders and the BCSA, this work is expected to be accomplished over the coming years.

Performance Measures:

1. Prepare recommendations for modernizing and rationalizing the building safety regulatory system — The construction industry has called for a unified and consistent regulatory approach by government in all aspects of the building sector. In response, government has been working with key organizations to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of existing regulations.

The Modernization Project will make preliminary recommendations to the Minister in the fall of 2005 for improvements based on a review of the system as a whole. These recommendations may include proposals for legislative, operational or administrative change.

2. Provide updated and improved technical regulations for minister's review annually — Discussions with the BCSA and a broad range of stakeholders concerning improvements in consistency and flexibility are ongoing. Continuous improvement is essential to allow BC to benefit fully from changes in technology and industry practice.