Automating Housing Data: Lessons from BC and Q&A Review

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Exploring the challenges and findings in automating housing data through BC's Housing Needs Reports and the Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project. The review highlights the importance of consistency in data reporting for effective housing policies and strategies.

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Automating Housing Data: Lessons from BC and Q&A Andrew Rigsby Data Access and Engagement Manager Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) Project Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia Simcoe County Data Consortium @ubcHART June 20, 2024

Review of BC Housing Needs Reports Background BC was the first province to mandate local governments to collect housing data and prepare a Housing Needs Report (HNR) to: Improve housing policies and strategies by informing communities of their current and future housing needs New HNR needed every 5 years starting in 2022 Purpose: HNR expected to be published and used to guide Official Community Plans (OCP) used to set bylaws and land use goals 2 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Reviewing BCs HNRs: Results A lot of variation = hard to compare 3 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Reviewing BCs HNRs: Results Good: Majority of municipalities reported >70% of all requested data Bad: Some variables rarely reported Ugly: Some variables reported in different formats Conclusion: Consistency needed to get the most out of these reports 4 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Literature Review Housing need difficult to measure accurately Need usually measured as Affordability: housing costs as a % of income Unmet housing need also used, but more subjective What kind of homes meet unmet need? 5 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

International Examples UK Strategic Housing Market Assessment: impossible to replicate results Scotland Housing Need Demand Assessments: lacking clarity on purpose & definitions Finland: State collects housing data from municipalities as part of a shared housing strategy Helped to target efforts on homelessness 6 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

4 Benefits to Automation: 1) More information reported more consistently in HNRs. 2) A centralized process would free up municipal staff time to address the data that cannot be collected from national or provincial data providers. 3) It would be more cost effective. 4) Facilitate direct comparisons between jurisdictions, and support housing policy. 7 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Automated HNA Tool Why? Consistent: Calculations and formatting are performed identically for all communities Comparable: Tables and graphs will look the same, and use the same underlying data Communities will sum to Regions, and Regions will sum to Provinces/Territories Easier: No need to search for the right data (esp. tough across different census years) 8 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Data currently included Exclusively census data (for now): 2006, 2016, & 2021 Public data + HART custom census data 4 categories of data: 1) Demographics and existing dwellings 2) Households and their characteristics 3) Core Housing Need 4) Projection of household growth 9 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Sample: 10 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)

Looking ahead Data to add: CMHC Rental Market Survey CMHC Social and Affordable Housing Survey Homes sales and home ownership market data Demographic projections 11 Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART)