The Affordable Housing Conundrum by Keith Porteous
On Denman and Hornby Islands, the cost of buying a home or renting one is not only a matter of market fluctuation, it is the predictable outcome of a limited island geography colliding with governing policies, and the harshest consequences of market based housing. When land is finite, development is constrained, and when zoning and land use bylaws limit the expansion of housing, prices do not just rise, they accelerate beyond the reach of average income residents. This is not an abstract economic principle but a lived reality for our island communities, where scarcity is structurally reinforced.
At the core of the issue is a simple conundrum, where demand continues to grow while supply remains effectively limited. Unlike mainland regions that can expand outward, an island has fixed boundaries. There are only so many parcels of land available for housing, and once they are built upon, they cannot easily be subdivided. As populations increase, whether through migration of retirees or the appeal of island living, more people compete for the same limited number of homes. This competition inevitably drives up both purchase prices and rents. At a 20% growth rate over 5 years, Denman and Hornby Islands have the highest population growth rates in B.C., according to the Canadian Census.
The result is a self-reinforcing cycle of limited land, restrictive zoning that constrains supply, reduced supply driving up prices, the higher prices attracting investment and speculative buying, all while these forces further limit affordability for local residents. Over time, this erodes the social fabric of our communities, pushing out long-term residents, essential workers, and younger generations who can no longer afford to live where they work or grew up. More than half our residents are over 60 years of age, the oldest mean age in Canada. A more diverse demographic mix is needed to sustain our local economy and shared amenities.
Local land use and zoning bylaws intensify housing scarcity. While zoning rightfully exists to preserve community character and environmental integrity, it also restricts higher-density housing and secondary suites. When most of the private land of an island is designated for single-family homes only, the number of potential rental units shrinks dramatically. This forces renters into a tighter market with fewer options, and landlords charging higher prices. Meanwhile, prospective buyers face inflated property values because the limited housing stock becomes more desirable, with an overheated market driving prices continually upward.
The situation is further exacerbated by a healthy resistance to expanding development opportunities. Legitimate concerns about overbuilding, infrastructure strain, and environmental impact lead to stringent approval processes or outright denial of new housing approaches. While these concerns are more than valid, the unintended consequence is a bottleneck that prevents supply from responding to demand. In such an environment, higher population growth is triggering disproportionate spikes in housing costs, while calls to expand the capacity of the ferry service will only contribute to the problem.
Additionally, our island communities often attract higher-income buyers, including retirees, investors, or second-home owners. These buyers can afford to pay premiums that most local residents cannot match, effectively setting a higher baseline for property values. As home prices climb, so too do rents, since landlords adjust their rates to reflect higher tax assessments, the increased value of their assets, and the heightened demand. In turn, more homeowners are exploiting opportunities to create expensive short-term vacation rentals that contribute to the increasing scarcity of rentals for full time residents.
Addressing these issues requires acknowledging that scarcity on an island is not just natural, it is also manufactured through policy choices. Expanding zoning to allow for more diverse housing types, streamlining approval processes for non-market housing, prioritizing housing for full-time residents over non-resident ownership, and limiting vacation rentals, are all steps that help the accessibility to affordable housing. Without such measures, the high cost of homeownership and rent will remain an inevitable and continually worsening feature of living on Denman and Hornby Islands.
