The District of Houston’s housing strategy consultants are in town this week, gathering ideas and information from local residents.
CitySpaces Consulting will then blend in what it hears with its own research into housing in the community and is one of its steps leading to a final report for council in October.
It’s this report which will guide council’s continued efforts to modernize and expand the community’s housing supply.
The work will update a District study commissioned in 2020 which identified many gaps in the local housing inventory.
That study, being updated by CitySpaces, identified five key housing needs —emergency housing, subsidized housing, supportive housing, rentals and expanded home ownership options.
The study confirmed several key areas brought up by the District of Houston council in recent years, including the need for more housing for elderly residents.
And it affirmed representations and concerns made by residents to the District over the years regarding the current declining state of some existing housing stock within the community.
CitySpaces Consulting planner Janelle Derksen, in speaking to council Jan. 9, noted that 57 per cent of the community’s housing was built between 1961 and 1980 compared to 40 per cent elsewhere in the Bulkley-Nechako regional district area and 27 per cent in the province.
Just five per cent of the community’s housing was built between 2011 and 2021 compared to eight per cent in the Bulkley-Nechako regional district area and 16 per cent in the province.
The data presented by Derksen also indicated that a median household income of $81,488 was needed in 2023 to purchase a home in Houston at current market values whereas $132,946 was needed in Smithers to purchase a home at that community’s market values.
Further, the projected household median income for 2023 in Houston is projected at $85,000 and $87,000 in Smithers.
It means that housing affordability is greater in Houston compared to Smithers.
Additional data presented by Derksen showed that 370 households are made up of renters with owners numbering 900.
Fully one-quarter of renters spend 30 per cent or more of their income on housing compared to six per cent of owners.
Nine per cent of renters live in dwellings requiring major repairs while eight per cent of owners live in dwellings requiring major repairs.
By numbers of households, 145 spend 30 per cent or more of their income on shelter, 110 households are in dwellings needing major repairs and 20 households are considered to be overcrowded.
Aside from the data, Derksen’s presentation to council underscored existing challenges of providing housing for an aging population and the lack of emergency or subsidized housing for a growing homeless population.
The CitySpaces contract with the District is covered by a senior government grant.