The City of Victoria’s bid to increase residential density through a fast-tracked garden suite application and approvals process has fallen short of expectations, according to the latest figures revealed by City Hall.

 

Mayor Lisa Helps unveiled the new planning regulations in mid-April that promised to drastically reduce garden suite application costs and times, slashing what amounted to thousands of dollars for permitting and municipal costs to a mere $200 while reducing application wait times from nearly one year to approximately one month.

 

Garden suites – rentable detached dwellings sized anywhere from 400-to-600 square feet and situated in backyards – are being touted by Victoria's mayor and council as one solution to easing the capital's 0.5% rental vacancy rate and as a way of adding gentle density to established neighbourhoods.

 

According to the City’s estimates, nearly 7,000 properties within the municipality have been identified as eligible for garden suites and 18 such residences are currently in existence.

 

However, with no applications submitted to the City of Victoria nearly two months following the implementation of the changes, one Victoria REALTOR® familiar with the custom home building process believes he knows what’s keeping homeowners at bay.

 

“What the City isn’t really broadcasting to the public is if you intend to build a garden suite in your backyard and either construct it yourself or oversee the construction process, you need to pass a rigorous home builder exam that can take two-to-three months to apply for and write,” says Marko Juras, REALTOR® with Victoria’s Fair Realty.

 

Juras says the recently introduced BC Housing Owner-Builder Authorization Exam has become a major impediment for British Columbians looking to manage their own home building project, and the way the exam is structured has forced many would-be owner-builders to either forgo construction or pay the high costs of hiring a licensed builder.

 

Construction costs of a do-it-yourself 400-to-600 square foot garden suite range between $100,000 and $140,000, Juras says, and relying on a licensed builder not only pushes those costs much higher, it could negate the feasibility of a garden suite.

 

“With projects as small as these suites, to have a licensed builder come in and oversee construction means your costs will rise by tens of thousands of dollars to pay their fee, and then you’re highly likely to have to rely solely on professional contractors to complete the job. So even if you have a skill you can put towards the construction process and save money, you’ll be unable to do so,” Juras says, adding that "having to pay a licensed builder, or write a test that literally requires you to learn how to build a car when all you want to do is assemble a bicycle, is what's keeping many homeowners from taking advantage of the new garden suite policy."

 

In a statement written to Juras by the City of Victoria, the City confirms that owner-builders must either present a certificate from BC Housing identifying their successful completion of the owner-builder exam at the outset of the application process, or present the certificate prior to the City of Victoria issuing the building permit.

 

“The garden suite policy is fantastic, it really is. Any time a government cuts red tape and expedites a way of doing business the consumer wins. But in this case a smart move by the City of Victoria has hit a brick wall thanks to newly-introduced provincial requirements," Juras said. C