June 6, 2018 - Housing Needs Assessments Completed for Island Trust Area

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Bowen, Denman, Gabriola, Galiano, Gambier, Hornby, Lasqueti, Mayne, N. Pender, Salt Spring, Saturna, S. Pender, Thetis 
 
 
News Release 
200 - 1627 Fort Street Victoria BC  V8R 1H8 
Telephone  250.405.5151 FAX:  250.405.5155 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 604.660.2421.  Elsewhere in BC 1.800.663.7867 
information@islandstrust.bc.ca     www.islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
June 28, 2018 2018-06-IT 
Housing Needs Assessments Completed for Islands Trust Area: 
an important resource to support the creation of affordable housing 
VICTORIA – The Islands Trust Council has announced that housing needs assessments are now complete for the entire 
Islands Trust Area. 
 
The Islands Trust has completed housing needs assessments for the northern islands including Denman, Gabriola, 
Gambier, Hornby, Lasqueti, and Thetis islands while the Capital Regional District has supported the completion of a 
similar assessment for the southern Islands including Galiano, Mayne, North Pender, South Pender, and Saturna Islands. 
Salt Spring Island has a housing needs assessment from 2015 and Bowen Island has a housing needs assessment that was 
updated in 2009.  
 
The assessments evaluate the demographics, incomes, and housing stock in a community, allowing agencies with an 
interest in housing to quantify both housing need and the amount of housing stock available. The provincial government 
has recently recognized the importance of this form of data collection and now requires local governments to conduct 
housing needs assessments every five years. With many communities in the Islands Trust Area experiencing a critical 
shortage in affordable accommodation, they come at a crucial time.  
 
“The new housing needs assessments starkly illustrate the difficult housing situations that many people living in the Trust 
Area are currently experiencing,” said Peter Luckham, Islands Trust Council Chair. “Far too many of our island neighbours 
have a lack of housing security, with many forced to vacate during the summer season. Others live in substandard housing 
with serious potential health and safety risks. Others pay unsustainable amounts – beyond the recommended maximum 
of 30% of their income – to have a roof over their head.” 
 
By quantifying housing need, housing needs assessments help governments plan and develop appropriately-scaled 
housing strategies. The assessments also offer the baseline evidence that affordable housing providers require when 
making their case for support to funders.  
 
As land use authorities, local trust committees and Bowen Island Municipality control the rate and scale of development 
in the Trust Area. They do this through density and zoning decisions that balance the need for housing while respecting 
the limits of the natural environment. Housing needs assessments allow local trust committees and Bowen Island 
Municipality to make informed decisions on the amount and nature of affordable housing their community requires.  
 
The Islands Tru

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