A full year has come and passed since the Province issued its first set of housing targets to a group of 10 municipalities that unofficially became known as the housing "naughty list."
The City of Vancouver was one of the first 10 and was given an order of 28,900 net new completed units between the period of October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2028, with annual (cumulative) targets consisting of:
- Year 1: 5,202
- Year 2: 10,597
- Year 3: 16,281
- Year 4: 22,349
- Year 5: 28,900
According to a City of Vancouver report set to be received by Council during next week's meeting, Vancouver has fallen short of the 5,202 target for the first year, which ended on September 30. The total net new completed units in this first year was 4,143 — 79.6% of the target. The result may not come as a surprise, however, as a City report earlier this year found that it was on pace to miss the first-year target.
In addition to the net targets, the Province's housing target orders also provide recommendations — numbers to strive for, not requirements — on the breakdown of those housing units, including by tenure, size, and affordability.
Of the 5,202 net new completed units expected for the first year, the Province recommended that 3,745 (72%) be rental units and the remaining 1,457 be strata units (28%). Vancouver finished the first year at 2,618 rental units and 1,525 strata units, representing 63% and 37% of the 4,143 net new completed units.
Furthermore, of those 2,618 rental units, 2,305 (88%) were market rental units and 313 (12%) were units renting at or below BC Housing's Housing Income Limits (HILs). The Province's recommendations were 62% and 35%, with an additional 3% for supportive rental units, which Vancouver recorded no new completions of in this first year.
By unit size, the Province recommended 40% for studio units, 20% for one-bedroom units, 18% for two-bedroom units, and 22% for three-bedroom units. Vancouver ended the first year with 22%, 28%, 35%, and 15%.
A breakdown of net new completed units in Vancouver from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024. / CIty of Vancouver
Critical to note, however, is that because the Province's targets are based on completions, there was not much the City could have done towards the targets in this first year, as multi-family projects take multiple years to complete.
"It is important to note that projects reaching completions in 2024 are mainly measuring applications that began construction 2-3 years ago and were approved by the City over the last 5 years or more," said City staff in their report. "Thus, these initial years of Provincial reporting are a measure of previous policy decisions and applications already in our development pipeline. The impact of housing projects and policy changes approved this year, will not reach completions until the later years of the Target Order timeline or into the next Provincial Target Order."
In terms of what's in the development pipeline, Vancouver is doing much better and is projected to exceed the five-year target.
"There are currently ~58,100 housing units in the development pipeline following a record number of rental approvals and building permits issued in the last two years," said City staff. "This includes ~19,300 units recently approved and ~13,700 units currently under construction, plus 3,200 units from low-density applications (e.g. infills, duplexes, and multiplexes) anticipated to come in and complete over the HTO reporting period. An additional 21,900 units will complete after the next 4 years from applications currently under review. Of the total units at different stages of development, 33,700 units are expected to complete within the HTO period, exceeding the Provincial Target of 28,900."
This summer, the City of Vancouver also updated its own municipal housing targets, setting a target of 83,000 new homes from 2024 to 2033. The City is also currently working on an Interim Housing Needs Assessment, which needs to be completed and received by Council by January 1, 2025. The City is currently estimating that the number of housing units needed is 56,228 for the five years between 2021 and 2026, and 182,947 for the 20 years between 2021 and 2041.
Joining Vancouver is the first group of municipalities to receive housing targets is Abbotsford, Delta, the District of North Vancouver, Kamloops, Oak Bay, Port Moody, Sannich, Victoria, and West Vancouver, all of whom should be publishing their Year One progress reports soon. Keep up with all the local governments and their targets via our housing targets tracker.
