Secondary Suites Are Maple Ridge's Most Underused Affordable Housing Tool. It Is Time to Use It.

Maple Ridge has thousands of single-family homes with the physical capacity for secondary suites. Regulatory and financial barriers keep many of those suites from being built or legalized. Removing those barriers would meaningfully expand the rental supply.

The fastest and cheapest way to add affordable rental housing to an existing neighbourhood is to help homeowners create secondary suites in the homes they already own. This is not a novel observation. It is well established in the housing literature and confirmed by the experience of municipalities that have streamlined suite legalization and permitting.

Maple Ridge has a secondary suite policy. It has not deployed that policy with the energy that the rental housing shortage in this community warrants. The permitting process remains more complex than it needs to be. The fees associated with legalization are high enough to deter homeowners who might otherwise formalize an informal arrangement. The inspections required are more extensive than the risk profile of suite conversion warrants.

A simplified, faster, cheaper suite legalization and permitting process would not solve Maple Ridge's housing crisis. It would meaningfully contribute to the rental supply in a way that does not require public capital, does not require developer agreements, and does not require waiting for a new building to be financed and constructed.

The suite that could house a family is sitting empty or operating informally in a Maple Ridge house right now. Removing the barriers to formalizing it is within the municipality's authority and should be a priority.

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