Red tape getting in the way of tiny home construction in Kitchener

A Kitchener homeowner is keeping up the fight with city hall as she works to get a permit to build a tiny home on her property.

Wendy Woolcox said she has a beautiful spot at the side of her duplex home, that is perfect for a tiny home. The utilities are all ready to go. The Grand River Conservation Authority has signed off the plan and the modular home from Brantford-based Habitat 28, is complete and awaiting final installation approval.

Yet, the the final sign-off from the City of Kitchener has yet to come through.

Woolcox told The Mike Farwell Show she’s been going back and forth with the city and is being run in circles because depending who you speak to, the rules are different.

“No one is on par with anyone else. Everyone has their opinion of what it is you should do, what it is they have done in the past, what they are doing now, how Bill 23 doesn’t apply to them,” she said “and then you go to another office and they don’t know what Bill 23 is.”

In 2020, the provincial government passed Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. It’s intention was to fast track approvals for building permits to help increase the housing supply in an effort to address the province’s housing shortage. Included in the bill was provisions that addressed tiny homes.

Woolcox said some municipalities are more than willing to fast track approvals while others, like the City of Kitchener, seem reluctant to adopt the new measures.

“We’re finding that the municipalities need a guideline that is the same everywhere. Right now, there isn’t one. Bill 23 came out, some people know about it. Some people adamantly want to follow it and the others do not. They do not want to change what they have been doing.”

Despite the frustration and delays, Woolcox remains optimistic the approval will eventually come, hopefully by the end of the summer.