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By Liam Verster

Creating More Housing

Province providing loans for people opening up secondary suites

May 2, 2024 | 2:00 PM

The B.C. government is taking steps to open more housing opportunities.

Premier David Eby said secondary suites can be viable housing options for people, but there are financial barriers to homeowners to build those dwellings.

“Today, I am very proud to announce that we are launching a three-year pilot program where homeowners can submit applications for a forgivable loan of up to $40,000 to cover up to half of the expense of opening a new basement suite or laneway house, for rent, and that the rents in those suites will be guaranteed to be below market [value] for a five-year period,” Eby said Thursday, May 2.

“A thousand homeowners a year will benefit from this program, which means that a thousand individuals and families a year will benefit from being able to access below-market rental housing that we know is desperately needed in our communities.”

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the pilot program, dubbed the Secondary Suite Incentive Program, will not only provide affordable units to renters, but allow homeowners to generate some additional revenues by building an additional housing unit on their primary residential property.

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“Homeowners in almost all incorporated municipalities are eligible [for the program], regional districts can also now apply, and it’s ensuring that communities that have building permits in place, staff in place, that we’re prioritizing initially with this program,” Kahlon stated.

“We’ve allocated $40-million. We expect approximately a thousand units a year to come through this program, and it’s important to highlight that the interest from land owners has been high: there’s a lot of people out there that want to be landlords.”

The North and Central Okanagan were the only local area included in the program as of May 2, though the province stated the pilot would be reviewed and could be expanded.

Applications will be approved on a first-come-first served basis, though Kahlon said there would be some “checks and balances” in place for the program to ensure only homeowners who otherwise couldn’t afford to build another unit on their property receive funding.

Details on the criteria and how to apply for the Secondary Suite Incentive Program can be found at the Housing B.C. website.