Calgary can offer upwards of $10K as an additional luxury incentive

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Calgary city councilors on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a proposal to encourage Calgarians to build more suites in their homes, as they received the first major progress update on the city's housing strategy.

Last September, the council approved a new city policy that includes 98 separate actions aimed at addressing the affordable housing crisis, including the recently approved rezoning. The city says it has made strides in implementing the new policy since it began work in January, and that about 80 percent of the initiatives will be completed by the end of the year.

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One of those initiatives is a new program to encourage Calgary homeowners to build basement suites in their homes. The program reimburses city residents up to $10,000 in security-related costs when they register an additional suite, an additional $5,000 for those who meet certain affordability standards, and up to $1,250 for energy efficiency improvements.

The program is expected to add up to 3,000 new suites in its first year, a 50 percent increase in enrollment over 2023, according to the city. The council allocated $4 million to the program in its 2024 budget, and it will receive additional funding through the federal government's Housing Acceleration Fund.

“To maximize the impact of the available funds, homeowners will have funds based on the safety items that must be addressed to make their space a safe registered suite,” said Joshua Hawes, the city's second suite program manager, during the association. development committee meeting on Wednesday. “Not every situation requires improving all elements, which frees up funds to support other applications.”

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Hawes said the goal of the funding is not to cover the full cost of renovations, but to help with costs and ensure the new suites meet safety requirements.

Courtyard suites are not included in the program

Some councilors questioned why the program would only include additional suites and asked if it could be expanded to include backyard and roadside dwellings, but staff said costs for backyard suites would be too high and would require a separate program.

Ultimately, the committee voted 5-2 to greenlight the program, sending it to council next week as an urgent matter. Councilors Dan McLean and Andre Chabot cast the opposition vote, citing a lack of information about the federal side of the funding.

“I don't see how much more it would contribute to the luxury registry program to encourage legal suites,” Chabot said. “I see it as extra money for those who are first in the program.”

An amendment to add backyard suites to the program could come up when the program is reviewed by the full council at next Tuesday's meeting.

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“I don't understand why we don't make this available to all subdivisions,” Kuhn said. Gian-Carlo Carra.

“I fully support this program, but I think it needs to be broader and I don't see why it isn't.”

If approved at next week's meeting, the program could go into effect as soon as June 3.

The housing crisis continues

Calgary's housing and rental markets are facing challenges as the city begins to implement a housing strategy, city officials say.

Staff told councilors that 35,000 more people have moved into the city since the strategy was approved eight months ago, rents for a two-bedroom apartment have risen by an average of $300 (12 per cent) and house prices have risen by more than $50,000 (11 per cent). cents), and the vacancy rate decreased to 1.1 percent.

“These additional housing market pressures make it harder for Calgarians to access housing, especially for those in need of affordable housing,” said Zahra Somani, the city's head of housing policy and strategy.

He said one in five Calgary homes can't currently afford housing — a number he admitted the city may have underestimated.

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Somani pointed to several accomplishments in the early stages of the strategy, including the city's commitment to affordable housing, things like rezoning that makes it easier to build housing, newly secured funding and support among others. income housing sector.

The committee voted 7-1 to send the report to a future council meeting. McLean was the only member of the opposition.

“If we're in a crisis and we want to make things affordable, why are we raising taxes three times a year on people who want to own a home?” he said. “It doesn't show that it's a crisis… I agree with a lot of things; I don't like a lot, unfortunately, I can't support it.”

Number. Courtney Walcott thanked staff for their work in the early stages of implementing the strategy. He noted that some of the established results are still years away, but the “pipeline is laid” for future success.

“For example, if we want to have 3,000 units of non-market-rate housing per year, some of the work you've done, we can start to see 10 percent of those goals met in a number of different ways. it's been a year,” he said.

The committee also gave preliminary approval to the creation of a new committee to advise council on the implementation of the housing strategy, with a decision to be tabled at a future council meeting.

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