There are concerns that changes to the B.C. building code to accommodate people with disabilities will increase expenses for both builders and buyers.
Starting next March in B.C., all large new condominium and apartment buildings will require 100-per cent adaptable suites and first-floor suites in smaller apartment buildings will be required to be easily adapted so anyone with a disability can live in them.
Developers say this could add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes because they will all require bigger rooms, lower outlets and various changes in washrooms.
It could also delay new builds.
“Currently, we have as a firm and architects thousands of units in design that should be built in the next few years,” Alan Boniface with Boniface Oleksiuk Politano Architects told Global News.
“Those are already delayed because of construction costs, inflation and interest rates. If we add this extra cost to the cost of units, we end up with the potential of a further delay in creating new housing units in Greater Vancouver.”
B.C.’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said, however, the changes are not as expensive as previously suspected and the government is working with developers to address their concerns.
Get daily BC news
“We know the cost for retrofitting a unit is more expensive after than when you initially build the building, and that’s why we need to move in this direction, but we need to do it all together,” he said.
Tom Davidoff, associate professor of business at the University of British Columbia told Global News that if accessibility for everyone is not mandated, it is certainly possible that builders would provide almost no accessible units.
“And that would make life very challenging for people who need special accommodations,” he said.
“If you require larger spaces, there’s no question that there will either be fewer of them or there’ll be more expensive.
“Now mostly people like bigger space, do you think they’d be willing to pay something for it? Going to 100 per cent of units with these accessibility features may certainly mean fewer units get built and housing is therefore more expensive. That is a possibility. But again, there is this tradeoff that we do want to see people with disabilities better served than they currently are.”
Davidoff said the the cities or the province could offer some support to renters, purchasers or developers in return for this requirement so that people who need these accommodations have their needs met by the housing market.
“It’ll be interesting to see whether there are actual significant sacrifices, in terms of affordability for people without disabilities,” he added.
“Hard to see how it’s anything but a benefit to people with disabilities.”