More than 300 people gathered at Roberts Creek Community Hall on Saturday for Cover the Coast’s inaugural housing information fair, exceeding organizer expectations for turnout.
“Everybody stepped up to the plate, that was really powerful,” said Kelly Foley, who organized the event with Jacqueline Gillis. “That’s what we need to do in the community to address this issue.” The organizers expected a turnout of about 100 people.
Foley is a regional housing coordinator with Cover the Coast, a housing initiative offshoot of the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society (SCAHS). Gillis is the initiative’s Rental Incentives Coordinator.
The event was inspired in part by a homeowner’s survey Cover the Coast conducted last year. Results showed at least 224 possible long-term rental units aren’t being used on the Sunshine Coast.
The survey identified costs of establishing a unit, issues around zoning and regulations, and “a perceived lack of landlord rights” to deal with tenancy issues as primary stumbling blocks for potential landlords.
Cover the Coast and SCAHC are working on purpose-built rental opportunities, but don’t anticipate a significant change in inventory for at least two years.
In the interim, they wanted to make it easier for people to either rent out their existing suite or build one because, as Foley told Coast Reporter, “that’s literally all we have.”
To encourage people to make the leap, Cover the Coast invited vendors from local government, contractors, property managers, financial advisors and others – the goal being to “bring everybody in the room that provides the expertise and the information required to make [renting] successful for people.”
Contractors were busy throughout the event, as were local governments, including District of Sechelt and Town of Gibsons. The event proved there is “huge interest,” in creating long term rentals on the Coast, said Foley.
To capitalize on the momentum the group will be releasing an online version of the event - essentially a compendium of local resources - which Foley said will be available early December.
Essential service worker housing
Cover the Coast is also launching a housing directory for essential service worker organizations on the Sunshine Coast.
The initiative is inviting homeowners with existing suites or auxiliary dwellings to list their units on a password-protected online directory, which will be accessible to the following organizations seeking housing for their workers: District of Sechelt, Town of Gibsons, shíshálh Nation Government District, Sunshine Coast Regional District, Sunshine Coast RCMP, Vancouver Coastal Health, Sunshine Coast Division of Family Practice and School District No. 46.
Organizations that assist people with housing needs are also listed on the website, including Good Samaritan Christenson Village, Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living and Sunshine Coast Community Services.
Foley said the 2021 survey results suggest some potential landlords would be willing to make a suite available “if they were able to connect directly to essential service organizations who are critically short staffed right now.”
Interested property owners are invited to reach out directly to Foley: [email protected].
