With many BC residents seeking affordable housing, the provincial government unveiled a new housing plan this spring. On Cortes Island, locals have been using different living options including building tiny homes.

Local tiny home owner and dweller Julian Nelson built their home for approximately $40,000, offering a comfortable living space at a more affordable price than a traditional home. They attribute the low cost to a variety of frugal techniques.

“A couple friends and I built it with a lot of salvage materials…Minus my labor, which I didn't really account for, and I worked on it all the times anyone worked on it.”

Nelson noted the pros and cons to tiny living when living on leased land.

"I wouldn't even be able to afford to move my house and I would have to sell it. So there is like definitely...a little bit of discomfort for sure. But I feel really lucky and glad that I have my tiny home."

Cortes Island has some affordable housing initiatives in the works, including the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing development.

MLA Michelle Babchuk and SRD Regional Director Mark Vonesch sat down next to the future Rainbow Ridge land and discussed policy to support solutions to the housing crisis.

CKTZ asked the politicians about the legality and zoning around tiny homes. According to BC Housing, tiny homes are not regulated under BC Building Code.

"So a lot of the legalities around zoning and what can be put there are actually done at the local government level for financing. So BC Housing is the place where you're gonna come for your money. … we just passed our 2023 budget. With 4.2 billion... and that's to look at all spectrum of housing," Babchuk said.

"…They're not a metal box that doesn't fit into anything that Cortes Islanders even remotely see as a housing...We've had a bit of a problem with smaller communities in the past because it's very difficult to fit some of it into the BC housing parameters, especially when they're looking at a per square foot model because it's very, a lot more expensive to build on an island," Babchuk continued.

Vonesch countered, pointing to legal hurdles tiny homeowners face.

"If you're a private property owner and you want someone to move a trailer onto your property, fine, you can do that. Or a business that wants to create a a trailer park, you have to be able to ensure that trailer park, and if you, if the housing on that house is not insurable because it's an RV or because it's a tiny house that wasn't built to code."

According to the SRD Zoning map for Cortes Island, there is no land on Cortes that is properly zoned for a trailer park.

"That's where the challenges come in," Vonesch continued. "So I think there is room for the province to look at reevaluating some of the code as far as tiny houses go. There's tiny houses that can be on solar with a composting toilet and a 12 volt battery system, which is very different from what they're used to. ...we have to make sure it's done safely."

Vonesch noted that tiny homes are a part of the solution to the local housing crisis.

"It's a huge opportunity. Like there are tiny house developers on Cortes Island that are building tiny houses anywhere, between $50 and $75,000.... And it's also a stepping stone for young people to be able to have a meaningful life here."

To hear more about how tiny homes and housing solutions on Cortes Island, listen to the CKTZ News Update below: