{"id":771849,"date":"2026-06-30T21:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/771849\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T21:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:03:11","slug":"how-50-billion-in-public-land-could-help-solve-b-c-housing-crisis-daily-hive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/771849\/","title":{"rendered":"How $50 billion in public land could help solve B.C. housing crisis | Daily Hive"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new tool that UBC is calling the \u201cfirst-of-its-kind\u201d suggests there\u2019s a potential pathway for building an unprecedented amount of affordable housing units on publicly owned land in B.C.<\/p>\n

Early analysis via the B.C. Public Lands Map (BCPLM<\/a>) points to 52,384 parcels of land, with the potential for 661,000 non-profit homes, with a total value of identified public lands totaling over $50 billion. UBC says it could pave the way for up to 273,000 housing units on vacant and underutilized land \u201cin Metro Vancouver alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The map was published by the UBC Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada has an affordable housing crisis \u2014 we have half the rate of affordable housing of other developed countries,\u201d said Dr. Craig Jones, associate director of the Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project, in a release.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 10 per cent of households in Canada can\u2019t afford their housing \u2013 they can\u2019t afford to live in this country,\u201d Jones added.<\/p>\n

The fully interactive map<\/a> allows users to select the jurisdiction, site suitability, ownership and current use, and natural features and hazards. It also outlines access to amenities (good or excellent).<\/p>\n

\"b.c.<\/p>\n

BCPLM<\/p>\n

A release from UBC says that finding public land that\u2019s suitable for housing has been a \u201cslow and reactive process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The release mentions one piece of land in Vancouver, on Main Street and 10th Avenue.<\/p>\n

\"b.c.<\/p>\n

Craig Jones in front of the building on Main and 10th. (Submitted)<\/p>\n

\u201cAn empty federal building stands on a site that could be an affordable home \u2018super star\u2019: close to a future Skytrain station, amenities, critical infrastructure and in the heart of the city,\u201d the release says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple layers of data are required including whether the site is near amenities and infrastructure such as transit, water supply, grocery stores and pharmacies, natural hazard risks, slope estimates, valuation of current buildings and more,\u201d the release adds.<\/p>\n

UBC says that the BCPLM \u201cflips this process\u201d by plugging directly into data that B.C. housing organizations provide. That includes B.C. Assessment and the Land Title Survey Authority. It also includes data provided by all layers of government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe map provides the first province-wide, data-driven inventory of public land, enabling policymakers, non-profits, and developers to identify land that may be suitable for affordable housing development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones says, \u201cBy eliminating or reducing land costs and accelerating approvals, the tool could lower housing delivery costs, while making large-scale, non-profit and affordable housing projects more feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes visible a real wealth of opportunity that\u2019s out there but often overlooked,\u201d Jones adds.<\/p>\n

Jones thinks that B.C. could be a model for other governments across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding affordable housing is hard. But this tool kickstarts the process by highlighting the opportunities that are out there that maybe people aren\u2019t aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new tool that UBC is calling the \u201cfirst-of-its-kind\u201d suggests there\u2019s a potential pathway for building an unprecedented…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-771849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}