John Popoff, director of planning and development services; Craig Elder, Gas City Ventures; Coun. Shyla Sharps; Selena McLean-Moore, director of Economic Development; and Tim Hailwook, owner of Timko construction, pose for a photo in a new backyard suite recently completed in the Norwood neighbourhood. The city is offering tax incentives to help encourage homeowners to build a secondary dwelling on their property.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Small dwellings and suites built in Medicine Hat backyards are part of the city’s plan to offer more affordable living options to residents without overburdening infrastructure.
A backyard suite is essentially a conventional home but smaller, typically 600 to 700 square feet, built in a homeowner’s backyard, to code, with separate hookups to water and utilities and separate parking and mail, as well as a small yard.
Compared to apartments and rental units of a similar size, backyard suites offer tenants more privacy, freedom and space while remaining at similar rent costs.
“So for this, you’re going to pay the same rent, you’re getting a brand new home that is extremely energy efficient and your utilities are going to be super low as well,” said Tim Hailwood, owner of Timko Construction.
On Thursday, reporters were invited to an open house of a recently completed backyard home built by Timko Construction in the Norwood community, which will be used as a rental unit by the homeowner.
“If you’ve got the lot size and you have enough, why not build a second residence on the same property? Each neighbour still has a ton of room, and you’ve still got ample parking,” added Hailwood.
According to city staff, benefits are plentiful for both homeowners and residents looking for alternative living options.
“This is introducing density in a very sensitive way to neighbourhoods, and it also provides an income helper to the primary residence,” explained John Popoff, director of development services. “By putting these in, we can get more density and we can get a build done within a year.”
The city hopes to address the shortage of affordable, energy-efficient living spaces that can be found in Medicine Hat by encouraging more homeowners to think about building a second home in their backyards by offering a significant tax break.
Pending council approval, the city wants to offer homeowners a 100 per cent deferral of taxes for five years.
“We’re providing a tax break for homeowners who want to put these up for the portion of this that adds value to their home, they’d get a 100 per cent discount for five years if they came in and applied to the city,” said Popoff.
Coun. Shila Sharps says she will be voting to support the tax deferral while expressing delight in adding more diverse housing options for residents.
“This is so important to me,” said Sharps. “As a member of council, I will tell you that we always look at housing. But here’s the thing, municipalities don’t build houses, contractors do.”
To help reduce regulations on future backyard suite developments and streamline the process, the city is considering foregoing the need for current homeowners to acquire a new permit to build a house and consider it an addition to the property, similar to a basement suite.
“I don’t think we need to give people cash to incentivize them, but (maybe) we can give them a little bit of a break on their taxes to recoup and breathe a little,” added Sharps.
“It’s also saying to homeowners that are trying to get in the market … you’re going to pay for the house, but you’ve now got a potential tenant that can offset some of these mortgage costs,” said Craig Elder with Gas City Ventures. “And that cash flow helps it become more affordable, especially for a first-time home buyer. It could be a huge offset for their mortgage costs.”
City staff say there are several homes with large backyard lots, especially in older neighbourhoods built in the 1950s through 1970s, making ideal locations to build a secondary suite.
“It’s really a low hanging fruit, because any homeowner can do this,” said Selena McLean-Moore, director of economic development who says interested homeowners should get in touch with the city’s planning and development department.
“They can issue a development permit, then it really is working with them along the way to ensure that everything goes smoothly once the actual development is finished, then the homeowner can contact the Economic Development department to apply for that tax exemption.”
The suite reporters toured on Thursday cost approximately $200,000 to build from foundation up. New tenants are expected to move in at the beginning of the month with rent set at $1,600. The unit includes one full bedroom, one half bedroom, full kitchen and bathroom, radiant floor heating and an in-suite washer and dryer.
