BC vs. West Vancouver
BC recently amended legislation to expand the use of single-family lots to allow for multi-family housing. In West Vancouver, a dispute over plans to build multifamily housing is raging.
Some West Vancouver residents are opposed to high-density development, arguing that it undermines the character of the neighborhood, while others emphasize the need to build new housing to address the housing shortage.
For this reason, West Vancouver, unlike the rest of BC, is asking the province to delay the implementation of these measures.
However, the Housing Ministry, the provincial government’s lead ministry for housing, says it can’t wait any longer to address BC’s housing shortage.
Eventually, the BC government gave the West Vancouver borough until August 24 to accept the amendments to the legislation. If West Vancouver doesn’t accept it by then, the Province of BC will step in directly.
BC’s move is likely to contribute to increased housing supply in the popular West Vancouver neighborhood in the near future.
While allowing multi-family housing in West Vancouver may cause conflict among local residents in the short term,
in the long term, it is likely to contribute to stabilizing BC’s housing market and improving living conditions by giving buyers a range of local choices.
With interest in West Vancouver apartments and new listings in the popular neighborhood on the rise, changes in the area’s housing market are expected to continue to receive a lot of attention.