Greater Victoria homebuilders remained busy in August as construction started on 664 homes but industry insiders point out what’s missing in that number is the missing-middle housing municipalities have been talking about but few have delivered.
“Large multi-family condo apartments are up 11 per cent this year at 2,481 units while detached and single-family homes are down 50 per cent and missing-middle townhomes are down 33 per cent,” he said. “It speaks to the regulatory hurdles and costs.” He said so far this year, despite Victoria passing bylaws to kick-start a missing-middle housing program, the city has yet to see one project break ground.
Alto said the city likely put too much into the one policy, despite streamlining the approval process.Edge noted Metchosin, Highlands and Oak Bay have also not seen the start of a single missing-middle unit, while Central Saanich has just two and View Royal has three so far this year.