The town of Houston will be conducting their own housing assessment with help from the University of Northern British Columbia’s Community Development Institute.
The assessment begins on Sept 30 until Oct.4 where the researcher will be in Houston to conduct data on what the housing needs are. The researcher will be interviewing council, businesses, and stakeholders.
Council has been receiving anecdotal information from residents on where the housing gaps are in the community.
Gerald Pinchbeck, Houston Chief Administrative Officer said one of the gaps the town wants to focus on is seniors housing.
“We’re an aging community. We have a population that has been growing older for 15-20 years and now the housing supply, which was designed for younger families with children isn’t necessarily as suitable going forward,” he said.
Pinchbeck also said they were hoping to get a head start and have the assessment really show the town where the housing need is.
“Just make it clear for the province that Houston has an unmet housing need that they need to step in and help address. One of things council has talked quite a bit about just the growing demand for residential care and assisted living needs,” he said.
To do this assessment Houston received a grant of $20,000 from the Rural Dividend Fund and the Northern Development Initiative Trust.
In August, Smithers and Telkwa received a provincial grant of a combined $35,000 for their own housing assessment.