The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) has completed its first study of housing need and demand in the region.
The new report falls under the 2019 provincial requirement for all local governments in B.C. to make housing needs reports by April 2022.
"The Housing Need and Demand Study provides us with a good foundation for future planning in the electoral areas," SLRD Board Chair and Electoral Area D Director, Tony Rainbow, said in a press release.
"This is an important project that gives us a real-time perspective on the current housing situation within the rural areas of the SLRD. It identifies the gaps and, with that knowledge, we can better plan for the future."
The study includes "a series of key recommendations for addressing identified gaps in the housing continuum, which emerged both through quantitative data and qualitative community and stakeholder feedback," a press release said.
Such recommendations in the SLRD report include exploring community land trust/non-profit housing authority models, supporting gentle and moderate density in appropriate areas and requiring a minimum of 15 per cent of new developments to be affordable housing units. The 15-per-cent target was previously adopted in the SLRD Regional Growth Strategy in October 2019.
This story originally appeared in The Squamish Chief on March 6.
