Missing Middle Housing
Victoria City Council recently updated this progressive policy. Does the reformed approach move the needle for students?
“I believe that the best thing we need to do in a housing crisis to achieve affordability is to build more housing.”
Victoria’s housing crisis is a reality that students face every year, but how can the Missing Middle Housing Initiative help alleviate this situation?
The Missing Middle Housing Initiative was made in Victoria to create an easier path for property developers to build multi-family homes in dense areas that are in high demand for more housing. First enacted in January and updated at the end of September, Missing Middle seeks to create an easier path to build attached homes in the Greater Victoria Area (GVA). To achieve this goal, the City Council loosened existing bylaws to allow for the construction of multiplexes without council approval on land currently zoned for single-family homes explicitly. Since the original bylaw was passed in January of 2023, the city received only three applications under the Missing Middle legislation over a six-month period. This disappointing result led to its revamp at the end of September.
In GVA municipalities such as Saanich, Oak Bay, and Victoria, many young professionals and families are “priced out” of the housing market and cannot afford to pay almost one million dollars for a two-bedroom house. Students, like the previously mentioned young demographic, receive the short end of the stick as rent prices rise with housing costs. The goal of Missing Middle was to ease this issue, however, developers claimed that regulations associated with the original bylaw needed to be simplified. Some difficulties noted by builders were street corner regulations, roof height maximums, and in-house suites that could contribute to a home’s bedroom count. In an effort to help the issues of the original bylaw, these requirements were amended in the late September update. Furthermore, Council removed additional constraints to incentivize development under the Missing Middle Initiative. For example, site coverage increased from 40% to 50% and the front setback decreased from 6.1 to 4.0 metres.
Councillor Dave Thompson said that he is happy about the amendments and excited to see new developments being built, and later went on to state that the goal of this project was not intended for affordable housing. As much as we all would like to be able to purchase a starter home for $150,000, that is not the purpose of the Missing Middle Housing Initiative. However, the legislation still has a positive impact on the affordability crisis in Victoria as it allows buyers to move upstream to suit their incomes and needs and it will give current renters more opportunity to enter the housing market. The latter impact is what has a chance to drive more supply into the rental market and thus slow growth for those who need it, such as students.
At the end of the day, Missing Middle was not intended for students. Instead, this initiative and all of its perks were designed for middle-class families and young professionals who are ready to enter the buying market at a steady pace. While it is not the primary goal of the initiative, it is expected to increase the rental housing stock. This expectation can be explained by the current homeowners who are expected to move further up the continuum, for example a condo owner moving into a newly built multiplex and a current apartment renter buying the newly vacated condo. As a result of this shift in the market, an apartment rental becomes available which students can fill. Hopefully, with the new amendments the city will receive more than three applications.
Written by Kaya Dupuis