Metro Vancouver\u2019s new Affordable Housing Gap Analysis paints a stark picture of a region falling dramatically behind on housing for low- and moderate-income residents. \u00a0<\/p>\n
After planners presented the report to Port Moody council on Feb. 17, several councillors described the issue as having reached a \u201ccrisis level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually really quite depressing to think about the massive shortfall, because as much as we want to see affordable housing, we\u2019re kind of limited in what we can do as a municipality,\u201d said Mayor Meghan Lahti. \u201cWe\u2019re working really hard here in Port Moody to try and create the opportunities, but it\u2019s sad to see such a need not being met.\u201d<\/p>\n
The regional study estimates between 29,250 and 54,500 affordable rental homes are needed over the next five years, while only 12,500 to 19,500 units were initiated across the region in the previous five-year period, leaving a gap that continues to widen.<\/p>\n
To bridge that shortfall, Metro Vancouver calculates $10.1 billion to $19.3 billion in combined government investment would be required \u2014 yet federal and provincial capital contributions over the last five years totalled $1.2 billion.<\/p>\n
The analysis is part of Metro Vancouver\u2019s broader Housing 2050 initiative focused on regional housing coordination and advocacy.<\/p>\n
Marina Jozipovic, senior planner on Metro Vancouver\u2019s housing policy and planning team, said the goal was to provide a better sense of affordable rental need and delivery to create a long-term roadmap for greater collaboration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that we need more affordable housing, but actually estimating the level of affordability needed is a challenge,\u201d Jozipovic said. \u201cWe sought to go beyond a general number \u2013 to really dive into what number of affordable rental units we need by rent level, by bedroom count, and how much is actually being delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n
The analysis breaks affordable housing demand down by income level, showing the crisis is most severe for residents earning under $45,000 a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Households in that bracket account for between 16,000 and 38,000 units of unmet need \u2013 representing the vast majority of the region\u2019s affordable housing shortfall.<\/p>\n
Coun. Haven Lurbiecki said the problem is regional, but visible in Port Moody.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much of that affordable housing that does get built is likely just slightly below market \u2013 not deeply affordable,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a critical deficit in affordability for those who need it most. When you look at the average incomes and housing costs in this region, the math is not mathing.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Metro Vancouver highlighted the role local governments play through tools like parking reductions, fee waivers, density bonuses and inclusionary zoning, the analysis is blunt about where the biggest gap lies: senior government funding.<\/p>\n
Over the past five years, provincial and federal governments contributed about $59,000 to $92,000 per affordable unit \u2013 a fraction of the roughly $346,000 to $354,000 per unit needed to make deeply affordable housing financially viable long-term<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a massive, massive shortfall in federal and provincial investment,\u201d Lahti said.<\/p>\n
The report shows municipal government actions can reduce project costs by tens \u2014 sometimes hundreds \u2014 of thousands of dollars per unit through land contributions, parking reductions and waived fees. In some hypothetical scenarios, municipal tools were shown to offset more than $120,000 per unit in costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across Metro Vancouver, the most commonly used tools included fee reductions (64 percent of projects), additional density (51 percent), land contributions (41 per cent), and parking reductions (30 percent).<\/p>\n
But planners cautioned these measures, while essential, are not enough to close a gap of this magnitude without major federal and provincial contributions.<\/p>\n
Coun. Kyla Knowles echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the . . . ways that cities can help, it all involves giving something,\u201d Knowles said. \u201cWe are trying to create those conditions for affordable housing, but in the current construction and housing market, it\u2019s really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knowles added that unlike other Metro Vancouver municipalities, Port Moody does not have much land to give when compared to provincial land holdings. \u201cIt\u2019s night and day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jozipovic emphasized the crisis didn\u2019t emerge overnight, and that the shortfall reflects decades of under-investment in non-market housing, even as population growth and housing costs accelerated across the region.<\/p>\n
Despite recent increases in affordable housing programs, the analysis concludes current delivery trends will simply maintain \u2013 not close \u2013 the existing gap over the next five years.<\/p>\n
One of Metro Vancouver\u2019s next steps will be working to better quantify municipal contributions \u2013 which are currently poorly tracked across the region \u2013 to strengthen advocacy for senior government funding.<\/p>\n
Without major funding shifts, the region risks rising homelessness, increased out-migration, suppressed household formation, and growing reliance on social services \u2013 outcomes already being felt.<\/p>\n
Coun. Amy Lubik said while the numbers are difficult to confront, they provide crucial clarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is kind of depressing the way some of these things are shaking out, but I think it is helpful to have this information and to understand we are going to need to be pushing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Metro Vancouver\u2019s new Affordable Housing Gap Analysis paints a stark picture of a region falling dramatically behind on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[27174,49,48,196066,196068,82931,46,4520,714,196067,1236,10209,32146,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-486895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-affordable-housing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-distribution-of-wealth","12":"tag-economic-problems","13":"tag-economies","14":"tag-economy","15":"tag-housing","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-port-moody","18":"tag-social-issues","19":"tag-social-policy","20":"tag-spare-news","21":"tag-vancouver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}