Making Housing Truly Affordable

💡 Making Housing Truly Affordable: Solutions for Build Canada Homes

In Parts 1–3, we explored Build Canada Homes, modern construction methods, who benefits from “affordable” housing, and the exclusion of social assistance recipients. Now it’s time to ask: what can actually work? 🏠

1️⃣ Income-Based Rent

One of the simplest ways to make housing affordable is to tie rent to actual income, not median or market-based standards. Examples include:

• 💰 Rent capped at a percentage of monthly income, e.g., 30% of what a person actually earns.
• 📊 Ensuring that people on social assistance can afford units without relying on additional subsidies.
• ⚖️ Adjusting rent as incomes change, so families and individuals are never paying more than they can reasonably manage.

2️⃣ Tiny Homes & Mobile Homes

Tiny homes and mobile homes are fast, affordable, and fully livable. They offer:

• ⚡ Construction in weeks, not months or years.
• 💰 Lower cost, allowing more units for the same budget.
• 🏡 Functional interiors including kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and storage.
• 🌱 Potential for community living, shared spaces, gardens, and supportive services.

3️⃣ Modular & Prefabricated Solutions

Modular and factory-built units can speed up construction while maintaining quality. Key points:

• 🏗️ Sections built off-site reduce weather delays and construction timelines.
• 💵 Potential cost savings if managed properly and passed on to tenants.
• 🔄 Can be combined with tiny home clusters for scalable, flexible solutions.

4️⃣ Supportive Oversight & Community Input

Building units isn’t enough — success requires:

• 👥 Involving local communities and people on social assistance in planning and oversight.
• 📋 Tracking whether residents can actually afford and access units.
• 🏘️ Including supportive services such as social workers, childcare, and job support when needed.

5️⃣ Policy Recommendations

• ✅ Adjust BC Housing and federal eligibility rules to include social assistance recipients.
• ✅ Ensure savings from modern construction methods are passed on to tenants.
• ✅ Prioritize rapid, low-cost solutions like tiny homes and modular villages for those most in need.
• ✅ Track outcomes, not just units built, to measure true success.

💡 By combining income-based rent, tiny homes, modular solutions, and supportive oversight, Build Canada Homes could truly make a difference — lifting Canadians who are struggling and providing housing that actually works. 💛

Stay tuned for Part 5, where we discuss constructive dialogue with Mark Carney and how Canadians can help make the program succeed.