Would you take part in a lottery in which the winner gets to plonk down more than $200,000?
You might if you get a new home out of it.
Tofino’s new lottery gives local participants a chance to own their own new townhome in a tourism community chronically short of housing and where housing prices can top $1 million.
The lottery gives the prize winner the opportunity to buy a one-bedroom, 738-square-foot townhouse for $210,000, plus GST. Its market value would be more than $300,000, Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne said.
The housing shortage has “reached a really, really critical level in Tofino,” she said.
Residents are living in homes that are too small, or in less than desirable condition, Osborne said.
A lottery information session is set at Tofino municipal hall between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on July 17.
The lottery starts in the coming week and the final day to enter is Aug. 14. The draw will take place in August but the date has not been set.
Here’s how it works:
• People living in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District can enter, but they must work in Tofino.
• They must be self-employed or be an employee working full time.
• They must have lived in the region at least two of the past three years.
• Household income is limited to a maximum of $80,000 per year.
• They cannot own any other real estate.
• The owner will pay strata fees of slightly more than $100 per month.
• The owner can live in the townhouse as long as they wish.
• They are permitted to resell it, but the price is linked to changes in the Consumer Price Index.
• The next buyer must conform to similar restrictions, which could be altered due to changes in the economy.
• Entrants must fill out an application form to show their eligibility.
The district obtained the townhouse as an amenity contribution from developer Tod-Hackett Group Ltd., which won rezoning needed to build the Sea Otter townhouse complex on Hellesen Drive.
“It’s a really open and airy modern townhouse, all on one level,” Osborne said.
The district and its Tofino Housing Corp. based the lottery on a similar successful program in Whistler.
The price was set using a formula geared to income in the region.
“A traditional measure of home affordability is for [the] house price to be no more than three times gross household income. The median household income in Tofino in 2015 was $79,872,” Osborne said.
She hopes that future development proposals will allow Tofino to obtain housing units or cash to help pay for housing.
In the meantime, the district’s housing corporation is looking at other ways to foster affordable housing, including partnering with the Tofino Bible Fellowship to see rental units constructed.
