John Higgins and his wife Kathleen, long-time Delta, BC residents, knew that their children wouldn’t be able to afford their own homes, so they devised a clever solution.
They turned their single-family dwelling into four individual ones, alongside separate mortgages and titles, so that their children and elderly mother could each have their own place.
John Higgins, a professional architect, created the model after sketching plans to turn their single home lot into four separate residences.
Are these kinds of projects an antidote to the housing crisis in Canada? Should the government subsidize them for future affordable home options for Canadians? The Higgins seem to think so.
Creative solution for the housing crisis problem
Interest rates, lack of supply and massive immigration are just some of the reasons many Canadians have been priced out of the housing market, putting the dream of home ownership out of reach.
International YouTuber Kirsten Dirksen visited the Higgins’, whose story garnered hundreds of thousands of views on her channel. Their story, it seems, has resonated with many who may be in a similar situation.
“There’s so much demand for affordable home ownership. Not just rental, not just subsidized government, but home ownership on the ground. That’s what people want,” Kathleen Higgins told Dirsken.
The Higgins’ son, James, has a growing family and knew that the area’s high prices and low supply would have made owning a home impossible for him.
“There’s no way we would be able to have our own 3.5 walls to ourselves, our own piece of land, that wouldn’t have been possible,” he said.
“I love being able to live here still with the huge bonus of having my children’s grandparents next door."
As a result, the Higgins’ have been enjoying the benefits of intergenerational living. Their 94-year-old mother is close by for them to care for, and their grandchildren can pop in anytime to spend time with them.
Kathleen hopes her family’s experience will inspire others to think outside the box, but the question remains, is homeownership a pipedream for most?
Federal plans for housing
According to a 2024 report by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the lack of housing supply and affordability challenges continued throughout last year, even with interest rates finally retreating.
In British Columbia and Ontario specifically, the high prices of homes are keeping many Canadians on the sidelines of the real estate market.
In response to the housing crisis in the country, the federal government introduced Canada’s Housing Plan in April 2024 in an effort to make homes more affordable for Canadians.
The plan includes building more homes, making it easier to rent or own a home while also building more affordable housing for students and seniors.
Other solutions include a proposal by Professor Erwin Sniedzins, founder of Senator Modular Homes, which includes building six million homes over the next decade.
Though sales for 2025-2026 are projected to surpass the past 10-year average, housing remains expensive for the average household.
As for the Higgins, Kathleen hopes the provincial and federal governments will create tax credits to help cover some of the costs for projects like theirs, so more families can follow in their footsteps and build multiple residences on large suburban lots.
Sources
1. YouTube: 4 generations, 4 homes, 1 lot: Vancouver family builds own private neighborhood (January 2025)
2. Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: 2024 Housing Market Outlook
3. Government of Canada: Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan (December 2024)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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