Housing Needs Report and Housing Accelerator Fund Support
In 2023, CitySpaces collaborated with City of Kelowna to develop a more comprehensive approach to estimating housing need by income group, household size, and housing type or tenure. Building upon the Kelowna HART pilot study conducted by the UBC Housing Research Collaborative, the City aimed to expand the concept of unmet housing need, going beyond the conventional understanding of core housing need, incorporating aspects such as suppressed household formation, homelessness, and the housing supply required to create equilibrium in both ownership and rental markets, all within the framework of a tailored household projection. This analysis enabled the City to gain a more detailed and nuanced understanding of both current and future housing needs, moving beyond just a single unit count. The project won a 2024 PIBC Silver Award for Research & New Directions, with jurors noting “it will be very useful as a model and adds to our tools for housing planning as a profession.” CitySpaces also facilitated an inclusive and targeted community consultation process, which included engaging with people with lived and living experience of housing insecurity.
Subsequently, CitySpaces assisted the City in preparing a CMHC Housing Accelerator Fund application by conducting spatial and data analyses to assess the historical trends in housing permits, thereby establishing a baseline for housing development and activity. In addition to establishing a baseline, CitySpaces worked collaboratively with City staff to estimate the impact of chosen initiatives and calculated the net change in permit issuance using the formulas required by CMHC; this work was urgent, innovative, unique, and complex and provided the City with value-add analysis and understanding of housing trends in Kelowna.
CitySpaces gathered and analyzed data for the housing needs report and Housing Accelerator Fund application, led and summarized all engagement activities, collaboratively developed a new methodology for estimating housing needs, reviewed sections of the report, and provided support in drafting the report.
CLIENT: City of Kelowna
