35% Of SFHs Have Secondary Suites

From THE ROLE OF SECONDARY SUITES: RENTAL HOUSING STRATEGY – STUDY 4, City of Vancouver, Dec 2009 p17 -
“Based on BC Assessment data, there are at least 24,000 single-family houses with a secondary suite in the City’s single-family zoned areas. Overall, the proportion of properties with suites is around 35%, but this ranges from 18% for the west-side local areas to 46% for local areas on the east-side. The number of suites is more difficult to estimate, but there are probably on the order of 1-2,000 other single-family zoned properties with two or more suites. Including those buildings brings the minimum estimate of properties with suites to 25,000.”

5 Responses to 35% Of SFHs Have Secondary Suites

  1. Can you really still call them SFH if they have renters in the basement and in some cases renters upstairs too?
    MFH
    I think it’s kind of sad that so many Vancouverites have to rent out parts of their homes just to be able to afford to live there but that seems to be the way it is now. Will this change if there ever is a 30% or so correction?

    • Agreed. A detached property (may the term “SFH” RIP) is more akin to a townhouse if there are suites and the rent able to be charged reflects this, from what I observe.

  2. These aren’t really SFH unless you have grandparents or grandkids in the basement.

    • rp1, I agree with you on this. we rent a basement from a couple who live in the house upstairs and they still treat it as if they were the only ones in this structure. this will be the one and only time we rent a basement, as it really sucks.

  3. The fact that so many houses have suites is just further evidence of how desperate buyers are to say “they own a house” in Vancouver. There is more than enough housing in Van, as evidenced by the exceedingly low rents and record vacancy rate. There are vacancies in nearly every building in our neighborhood, houses included.
    However, if everyone decides en-masse that something has value and that they have to have it, the market turns into a race to the top – hence bidding wars that don’t end until the “victorious” buyer can not afford the house without a suite and even then, only by the skin of his teeth. If everyone decided “en masse” that RE wasn’t worth as much, most of these suites would go away as incomes wouldn’t change. Apartments in coal harbour would be occupied and average families would again be able to afford an average SFH in Van.

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