Kamloops city council will be going ahead with loosening rules on secondary suites.

A public hearing was held on the matter last night, and councillor Kathy Sinclair says council ultimately chose to go ahead with relaxing the re-zoning requirements for suites.

“I think it’s a very positive thing for Kamloops. We’re one of the last communities to go through this change, and our hope is that it will increase the number of housing units available. Particularly for students and others who are renting at this point.”

Upwards of 90 per cent of rental suites in Kamloops aren’t registered, and council feels the changes will make it easier for people to go through that process.

Mayor Ken Christian points out the decision by council followed a rigorous public consultation process.

“There was some concern about parking. Particularly stacked parking, and issues related to if you have a secondary suite in a cul-de-sac, and now you have two extra cars, where are they going to go? Those kinds of things,” Christian says in regards to last night’s public hearing.

“I think we have to look at a couple things. One is, KamPlan has indicated that we want to densify this city. So let’s make no bones about it, we’re going to be a tighter, more compact city in the future. The other thing is the affordability of houses for particularly first-time buyers. When you have that mortgage stress test in place, 20 per cent down is difficult, so the potential of buying a place that has a revenue stream coming out to help you with the mortgage makes a lot of sense.

“So I think that was ultimately what swayed council and we voted unanimously to expand the opportunity for secondary suites in the city.”