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Letters: Fee reductions will help with affordable housing issues

Fee reductions will make it easier and cheaper for many first time buyers to achieve ground-oriented, affordable, home ownership with no strata fees.
Letter to the editor
small houses in delta bc
A recent file photo of Kathleen Higgins (front) outside new North Delta small houses with her husband John and mother Kathleen Toth. A new form of housing for the community, the small homes they designed and had built were constructed for their family members. The little houses are on a lot where one larger old house had been located. Sandor Gyarmati/Delta Optimist

Editor:

Affordable home ownership is one the most important issues for Delta residents.

The project we built three years ago solved that challenge for our family. We want to help other families do the same thing.

We replaced our 1970s rancher with four smaller homes on smaller lots. We shared our land with our three young-adult children so they could each own a ground oriented home with no strata fees.

We are grateful that Delta council under Mayor Lois Jackson approved our innovative project, and we love living in our smaller homes.

The $66,000 in fees and $50,000 in deposits that we paid, however, made the homes more expensive than if we had just replaced our old rancher with one big house. 

At that time, council gave a $2,000,000 fee reduction to the 37-storey Delta Rise. I am writing to ask whoever is elected to Delta council to give fee reductions or at least deferrals to Delta residents who want to replace their aging house with smaller homes on smaller lots to help their young adult children or other first time buyers.

Fee reductions will make it easier and cheaper for many first time buyers to achieve ground-oriented, affordable, home ownership with no strata fees. 

Kathleen Higgins