Development and building permit applications, as well as building inspections, in the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) were down in the first three months of 2024 over the same period last year.
The decreases are detailed in Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) departmental first quarter reports.
There were 58 development applications received during Q1 2024. That is below the 61 that came in during the same period last year. As development fees were adjusted last year, the lower number of submissions brought in $73,200 compared to $53,565 generated in Q1 2023. There were 395 public inquiries on development issues in January through March 2024 compared to 504 during those months in 2023.
Fewer building permits, shorter processing waits
Building permits issued since the start of this year to March 31 totalled 53, down from 62 during the same timeframe in 2023. Fewer applications were received, with that number in Q1 2024 at 67 compared to 82 in the same period of 2023. Again with fee adjustments last year, the revenue collected from building fees was just under $250,000 in the first three months of 2024, just slightly lower that the revenue level from the previous year.
The report states that this is the fourth consecutive year that quarter one revenues have exceeded $200,000. Area A (Pender Harbour-Egmont) accounted for twice as much revenue as any other individual area or district, said the report.
Inspection counts were at 284 in Q1 2024, whereas 322 such site visits occurred during the same period late year. The downturn in those demands was a factor that helped reduce the number of weeks required to obtain a building permit. As of March, building permit processing took an average of 3.28 weeks. During last year's first quarter, that average was at 5.14 weeks, and the average processing time over the full year was 3.64 weeks.
Impact on the housing shortage
Eighteen dwelling units were added in rural areas in the first three months of 2024, based on the applications received, the report showed. This is the same number added over the same period last year. With ever-increasing demands for housing to need current and future needs, the number of units added per quarter needs to increase if the SCRD is going to match or exceed 95 added in 2023 this year.
