Creston’s housing report reveals a serious shortage in future housing, particularly with rental units.
The Town of Creston received the report at the last council meeting, showing there is much work to be done.
“In order to fill that need, we will have to do a lot of building over the next few years and so, for us to address that, we will be using our housing corporation as a means to establish that housing and we’re hopeful that there will be other businesses and developers that are involved as well.” said Mayor Arnold DeBoon.
“As in a lot of the province and in the Kootenays, we are at a critical stage of housing here, and we have not had any addition to our rental units for quite some time.”
The report, which included a community survey with 616 responses (444 from homeowners and 172 from renters), anticipates Creston will need an additional 445 units over the next five year. This blows out to 1,436 over a 20-year period.
Other key highlights include:
- Both renter and owner households need more affordable housing options
- 13 per cent of survey respondents indicate housing affordability is the top challenge when it comes to housing in Creston
- 230 households (90 homeowners and 140 renter households) are in core housing need
“One of the important things about increasing our housing capacity here is the impact on economic development. Because if people can’t find a place to live here, they can’t work here. And so, it has huge community benefits to add the housing.” said Mayor DeBoon.
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