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The Zoning Effect

2024 Fall

The “zoning effect” refers to the amount that zoning increases housing prices. It includes all policies that control building form in specific areas of municipalities, such as height limits, minimum lot sizes, and off-street parking requirements. It also includes the cost of the delays that result from the administration of these policies.

In the Fraser Valley, the zoning effect increased the cost of detached homes by between $470,000 and $950,000 in 2021, accounting for anywhere from 40 per cent to more than 70 per cent of the cost of purchasing a detached home.

Zoning Effect | Improvement Value | Land Value

Source: “Housing Prices in British Columbia: Quantifying the Zoning Effect” by Nathan Zemp

THE AUTHOR

Nathan Zemp

Researcher Nathan Zemp, elaborates on the causes and impacts of the Zoning Effect in this issue’s Last Word column

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Issue 3 | 2024 Fall

Interview

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Challenges to the NDP have seen a swift rise in John Rustad’s Conservatives. And while BC United has thrown in the towel, Sonia Furstenau and the Greens are in on principle. Heading into the election, the challengers are down to two whose approaches to housing solutions couldn’t be more different.
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