Missing Middle Housing Initiative

The Missing Middle Housing Initiative proposes to allow houseplexes and corner townhouses in addition to single-family homes in Traditional Residential areas of the city.

Report for Council

Council considered the draft bylaws associated with the initiative at the July 14 daytime Council Meeting where they received introductory readings. At the July 14 evening Council Meeting, an amendment was made to the proposed Schedule P of the Zoning Regulation Bylaw and the August 4 public hearing date was confirmed.

You can read the July 14 daytime Council Meeting draft bylaws and staff report, and watch the archived webcast here.

• Missing Middle Housing Initiative Bylaw Amendments Report
• Attachment A: Zoning Regulation Amendment Bylaw No. 22-045
• Attachment B: Land Use Procedures Amendment Bylaw No. 22-057
• Attachment C: Affordable Housing Standards Bylaw No. 22-056
• Attachment D: Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 22-044
• Attachment E: Blackline consolidated Land Use Procedures Bylaw
• Attachment F: Missing Middle Design Guidelines
  (Note: Attachment E is provided as a reference to more easily understand how the Land Use Procedures Bylaw would look after being amended.)

UPDATE & NEXT STEPS

The Missing Middle Housing Initiative Public Hearing concluded on Thursday, September 8 with Council voting to refer this to a Committee of a Whole Meeting in the last quarter of 2022 to consider in the context of new provincial legislation with respect to increasing housing supply that has been signalled by the Province, and other considerations to the new Council.

Watch the webcast of the September 8 meeting and previous meetings that took place on, September 2, September 1 and August 4.

Information Materials
The fact sheet and information boards below summarize what you need to know about the proposed Missing Middle Housing Initiative.

• Missing Middle Housing Initiative at a Glance Fact Sheet
• Missing Middle Housing Initiative Information Boards
  
  

Pre-Public Hearing Information Sessions
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us online or in person to learn more and ask questions about the City's Middle Missing Housing Initiative at an Information Session on July 12. The virtual session recording is available below.

About the Missing Middle Housing Initiative
The Missing Middle Housing Initiative proposes to allow houseplexes and corner townhouses in addition to single-family homes in Traditional Residential areas of the city.

It will also help to conserve homes with heritage merit by allowing other homes to be built on the same lot as the heritage registered building.

Victoria’s Official Community Plan already envisions Missing Middle housing forms throughout the city. However, because much of the city is still only zoned for single-family homes, building Missing Middle housing requires a rezoning, which can be a long and complex process.

This helps explain why Victoria sees many older homes replaced by new, more expensive single-family homes far more often than Missing Middle housing is created.

Missing Middle housing will:

• Create more homes and housing choice.
• Expedite construction. Missing Middle homes that meet established design guidelines can proceed to construction, without the need for a rezoning, in the same way single-family homes do today.
• Make it easier for people, especially young families and seniors, to stay in the city and live closer to where they work and shop, supporting the local economy and sustainability.

These are some of the reasons we are considering zoning changes and Official Community Plan amendments that would allow Missing Middle housing throughout Victoria’s Traditional Residential areas.

Opening the door to more Missing Middle housing is one important action in the City’s suite of Housing Strategy initiatives to tackle the current housing crisis.

Census data shows Victoria continues to lose young families as their housing needs evolve. And it’s not just young families who benefit. There are many others looking for housing options because single family homes are expensive – just over a million dollars on average in Victoria – or because they might want access to more outdoor space, sometimes lacking in apartments and condos.

Learn more in the FAQ section. Read about Victoria's Housing Strategy. Scroll down to see How We Got Here.

Quick Facts
Missing Middle housing currently accounts for just five per cent of new home construction, with apartments, condos and detached houses making up the other 95 per cent.

• Over the past 30 years, Victoria has experienced a net loss of school-aged children and adults aged 30-50 – the age when many adults are raising families.
• Most housing in Victoria (68 per cent) is apartment style (rental or condo).
• In Canada, 37 per cent of households have three or more people. In the City of Victoria, it is only 16 per cent.
• The number of seniors in our community is expected to double over the next 20 years. More housing options are needed to allow seniors to age in place within their community.

Council Direction
At the June 9, 2022 meeting, Council passed a motion to:

• Prepare amendments to the Zoning Regulation Bylaw, Land Use Procedures Bylaw, Affordable Housing Standards Bylaw, and Official Community Plan Bylaw that would permit missing middle housing forms through a delegated development permit process, as described in the May 5, 2022 Committee of the Whole report.
• Provide advance public notice and host a public Information Session on July 12 to help interested community members understand what these bylaw and policy changes could mean for Victoria.
• Introduce the bylaws on July 14, 2022 and, if it receives the first two readings, schedule a public hearing on August 4, 2022.
• Approval of a new citywide Missing Middle Housing Policy (guiding future rezoning applications), along with policy updates to neighbourhood plans and the Tenant Assistance Policy would be considered at the same time as the above mentioned bylaw changes.
• If approved, monitor and report back within two years (or sooner) on the outcomes of zoning changes, and recommended improvements.

Sign Up for Project Updates
If you haven't already, please sign up for project updates (scroll down to the bottom right).

How We Got Here

The proposed Missing Middle Housing initiative is based on input from the public received through an extensive 18-month community engagement process. It also builds on earlier engagement for other City initiatives including:

• Victoria’s Housing Strategy
• Council’s Strategic Plan
• Neighbourhood Planning
• Official Community Plan

Phase 1 Engagement
Early engagement took place between March 2020 and May 2021. Through community meetings, surveys and workshops the City asked about priorities, preferences, barriers and opportunities relating to Missing Middle housing. Thank you to all those who participated.

Some highlights of what we heard included a ranking of objectives for Missing Middle housing and a prioritized list of site characteristics such as access to outdoor space and indoor storage space. We also listened to feedback on preferred design, form and character.

Here is the complete engagement summary from the early engagement and the Missing Middle Housing Initiative Update Council Report from July 2021.

Phase 2 Engagement

Community members provided feedback on balancing trade-offs associate with emerging concepts for Missing Middle housing.

Highlights of what we heard included strong support for a balanced approach for housing, trees and parking on each lot, permitting three storeys with a requirement for accessibility and a delegated approval process when the housing is consistent with established design guidelines.

Community input, combined with additional technical analysis, guided the evolution and greater detailing of how zoning and land use policy could change to make it easier to build Missing Middle homes in Victoria.

The report and attachments are available in the Documents sidebar of this page (scroll down and see the right side). The report was originally published as part of the Agenda for the May 5, 2022 Committee of the Whole Meeting (item F.3).