Foundation-free islanders will see more advocacy from land-use officials in coming months, as a working group’s efforts to find ways to legalize tiny homes on wheels (THOWs) received support –– and funding –– from the full Islands Trust Council (ITC).
Trustees voted unanimously to ramp up advocacy efforts at the regional and provincial level for tiny homes, putting a focus on that housing option in upcoming strategic planning and setting aside $20,000 to support coordination of technical workshops and discussions with other levels of government.
The move came near the end of ITC’s meeting Thursday, Sept. 26, as Gabriola Island trustee Tobi Elliott outlined the Tiny House Working Group’s efforts to date, looking to gauge interest among the wider federation of islands. The Trust’s Housing Action Plan is part of broader strategic planning to help improve availability of affordable housing, and Elliott said for THOWs that would mean big changes to building codes at the provincial level –– something the Trust would need regional governments’ help with.
“We’re suggesting a roundtable workshop to work with regional districts,” said Elliott. “For the next update for the BC Building Code, 2025-2030, they’re looking at affordable housing updates and tiny homes –– but they haven’t scoped out what that will look like. So we want to be involved in the conversation and informing it.”
The barriers to legalization for wheeled tiny homes are myriad and involve several layers of government, according to the working group’s report. Using THOWs as full-time permanent dwellings is popular with islanders, but from zoning and building permits to certification and insurance problems, even enthusiastic policy makers have struggled to find a way to allow them.
Elliott and the working group are developing a guide to help trustees –– and regulators at other levels of government –– navigate the “regulatory maze” and hopefully find pathways to legalization in rural and remote communities. An early draft of that guide clearly delighted fellow trustees.
“I’m very happy to support this,” said Denman Island trustee Sam Borthwick. “The Trust has a real opportunity to pave the way for coming up with something really good; it’s an exciting and effective way to provide housing that’s in line with the way many people choose to live their lives on the islands.”
South Pender trustee Dag Falck said it was the only proposal he’d seen that “could actually lead to affordable housing” on the islands, particularly on smaller islands that were less interested in focusing density.
“It allows for spreading out the need we have for increased housing for service workers and so forth,” said Falck, “where most of the other proposals are concentrated housing complexes.”
And Mayne Island trustee Jeanine Dodds said tiny homes were a critical piece of the housing puzzle, since they can provide a sense of ownership, even when people can’t necessarily afford a parcel of land on their own or may move from place to place.
“Their home will always be their own home, and that’s really important,” said Dodds.
The draft THOW policy guide can be viewed online at plectica.com/maps/QZ77PAEBW.