Nick Laba, the North Shore News, October 12, 2022 (with quotes from BCNPHA Policy Manager Erika Sagert)
When it comes to building new rentals, the City of North Vancouver is blazing ahead. Meanwhile, West Vancouver is barely building any at all.
New data gathered by Make Housing Central highlights where new housing is required based on municipalities’ own needs assessments, and measures how on-pace they are to meeting demand.
Out of 128 municipalities profiled by MHC – a collaboration between the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, Aboriginal Housing Management Association, and the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC – the City of North Vancouver ranked first.
In 2021, 67 per cent of newly constructed housing stock was rental in the city. Around 38 per cent was rental stock from 2015-2021, for a total of 1,768 units. Over that period, 2,839 condo and homeowner units were built and 27 co-op and social housing units. The vast majority of new stock is apartments, with relatively few single or semi-detached homes.
According to the city’s needs assessment, there are 840 non-market and 117 co-op units as of last year. With 768 households on the waitlist, the report indicated a greater need for non-market units, MHC notes.