Media Release:
Greater Homebuilders Association Vancouver releases ground breaking “triple win” G2G Report
Links: Report and Key Findings
Vancouver, B. C. – Homebuilders Association of Vancouver CEO, Bob de Wit, with Dr. Meg Holden, Associate Professor, Urban Studies and Geography, Simon Fraser University and Jean Lamontagne, General Manager of Planning and Development, City of Surrey, presented key findings of the inaugural Getting to Groundbreaking (G2G) annual report, at SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, Thursday, December 4, 2014.
G2G, a first-of-its-kind housing research project, investigates best practices in the building and development approval process; the piece of housing development that happens before the shovels hit the ground. The report identifies Best Practices, ranking municipalities in the Housing Partnership Index, with the objective of fostering a collaborative, transparent building approval process in the best interest of the home owner.
This report looks well beyond basic fees and processing times. “We quickly realized the complexity behind these two critical points,” said de Wit. “We expect G2G will become a highly anticipated report from which builders, municipalities and consumers will all benefit. Working with the identified Best Practices, municipalities will be able to optimize their resources through identified efficiencies and builders will have greater predictability to better manage housing costs, ultimately delivering a more cost efficient supply of housing to the home owner. G2G essentially is a triple win!”
The report focuses on Townhomes as a benchmark for identifying Best Practices and the Housing Partnership Index. “Townhouses were chosen as the first housing form to focus on because they are pervasive throughout the region and many municipalities are currently working to promote more development of them,” said Dr. Holden. “As the region has now become an infill environment, with few traditionally sized lots left to build single family homes, townhouses offer a more affordable option,” Dr. Holden noted.
Future versions of the report will examine apartments and single family homes.
De Wit says, “the Housing Partnership Index demonstrates results can come from a number of different efficiencies. It is not a simple formula of fees and processing times. Each municipality has their own guidelines which they must operate in, and we are mindful of this. G2G aims to bring collaboration and transparency to the building permit process to bring efficiencies to the consumer without compromise to the end product, while meeting housing demand.`
Independent third party researchers from Simon Fraser University Urban Studies Program were guided by an advisory group which includes members of local government, HAVAN, UDI, the BC Non-Profit Housing Association and Ryerson University. The project is funded by the Mitacs research internship program, with HAVAN and UDI as private sector partners, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC and BC Housing
HAVAN, the voice of the residential construction industry in Metro Vancouver, helps consumers buy, build or renovate their homes. A not-for-profit society, HAVAN has more than 800 members and is proudly affiliated with the provincial and national Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.
MEDIA CONTACT: Bob de Wit — 778-565-4288 or cell 604-916-3434 @rdewit