Theressa Logan, executive director of the Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA), said that when people have been able to work from home for the past two years because of COVID, more people have moved to the community. The influx has pushed up property prices and reduced the number of affordable rental units. As a result, he said, many service companies are finding it difficult to hire staff who cannot find a place to live in the community. “It is definitely a stock, it is an affordable price. There is no one to work with and I do not know exactly how to fix these challenges.”
Prices outside the community
Sunshine Coast has long been a popular vacation and retirement community, and many people have second homes and investment properties in the area. “Housing prices here are reaching levels of luxury where the only people who can afford it are rather wealthy,” said Silas White, housing co-ordinator with the Affordable Housing Society. He said a one-bedroom basement suite in the community can cost up to $ 1,500 a month. “I see a lot that is even higher than that, and a two bedroom one could cost about $ 2,500,” he said. “THE [housing crisis] “Partly because of the economic price, but partly because there is nothing on the market.” In recent years, 80 support units have been added to the Sunshine Coast, but the number of homeless people remains the same, according to White. “When we bought 40 units at Gibsons … we thought we would solve the problem for years to come … but the numbers probably stayed the same despite the addition of 80 units,” he said. With ongoing staffing challenges due to a lack of affordable rental units in the community, volunteers joined last year to help understaffed restaurants serve their customers. A business owner – Del Sidhu, the owner of Saffron Restaurant and 22 Taphouse in Sechelt – bought a second property to house new employees, despite the hot real estate market. With a population of almost 11,000, businesses in Sechelt are finding it difficult to recruit new staff as there are not enough affordable rental units. (Justin McElroy / CBC) Sidhu said he opened 22 Taphouse in June 2021 and recently decided to buy a second property near the restaurant, above market price, to help house some of his new employees. “There are no rents; if there is anything available, it is very expensive,” he said. Sidhu said he needed another 35 to 40 employees to be able to open and operate his full-time restaurants, but was forced to remove new employees from other cities due to a lack of affordable rental options in the community. “We actually had people coming from the Vancouver and Surrey area; but there were no rents,” he said. “There are almost six staff members in the new home right now … but we had to go to a bidding war to buy it.”
Staff shortages affect BC Ferries
Last month, Mark Collins, president and CEO of BC Ferries, said staffing was an ongoing challenge and finding new hires in remote communities was even more difficult, especially as many people in the service industry changed careers over the years. of COVID. “The Sunshine Coast is very difficult, the Langdale area is very difficult to recruit and more remote communities … North Gulf Islands … there are definitely some hot spots in our area where we just can’t find local staff,” he said. Collins. BC Ferries canceled a number of Queen of Surrey services on June 10, 2022 due to staff shortages. (BC Ferries) Lori Pratt, director of Halfmoon Bay in the Sunshine Coast District, said she could move off the coast as early as this summer if she and her family could not find affordable housing to rent by the end of August. “About a week and a half ago, my landlord notified me to be out on August 31st for a family member. [moving in] “She’s not home at the moment, so I’m looking for a new place to live,” Pratt told CBC’s The Early Edition, adding that she has been renting in the Sunshine Coast for the past 12 years. Pratt, a politician, real estate agent and member of the Affordable Housing Society and Sunshine Coast Homelessness Advisory Committee, addresses concerns about the lack of affordable rental units in the community. He said having two pets makes finding a new home much more difficult.
New affordable housing is required
Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish said the challenge in tackling the Sunshine Coast housing crisis is the lack of new developments for affordable housing. “There are a lot of developers building a lot of projects, but the financial side has not kept up with the needs,” Beamish said. He said a current project with the Affordable Housing Society is awaiting approval for a building permit. The 40-unit building is expected to accommodate approximately 100 people in a combination of unit types, from single to three-bedroom. Part of the units would also be rented at or near market value. The BC housing crisis is costing Sunshine Coast residents a long time and creating staffing challenges in the service sector. (David Horemans / CBC) “The city provided the land four years ago … and now it is at that stage where the construction plans have been presented, but it is four years … so it takes a long time to put a project on the market and provide it for to meet the needs of the community “.
