North Okanagan regional district launches design competition to help alleviate housing crisis
Global News
Housing designers, professional or not, are invited to take part in a new competition from the RDNO, and they're asked to submit their best secondary dwelling designs.
The Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) is looking for new ways to stay on top of the rising demand for housing.
A new competition has been launched to streamline the process of building additional housing units and alleviate the current housing crisis.
Housing designers, professional or not, are invited to take part in a new competition from the RDNO, and they’re asked to submit their best secondary dwelling designs.
“We’ve got a panel of experts that will go through all the different designs and they’re being scored on affordability, usability, and how it satisfies environmental aspects,” said Kevin Acton, chair of the RDNO board of directors.
The winning designs will become pre-approved building plans which can be purchased throughout the North Okanagan. Sketches are being accepted for one-storey and two-storey secondary dwellings.
The RDNO says housing affordability and supply are some of the biggest challenges it’s facing right now. The goal is to reduce barriers for homeowners looking to build additional units.
“We’re hoping that it really just sort of omits the back and forth, that goes on, especially in rural communities between the building inspector and the proponent, that’s trying to put a home on their property,” Acton said.
Increasing the number of second dwellings on properties around the North Okanagan is just one way the regional district is trying to add to its housing supply.
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