Surrey housing report reveals short and long-term needs

A 2025 Surrey Housing Needs Report that came before city council on Monday indicates Surrey needs 53,111 new homes in the next five years and 169,221 in the next 20 years if all its residents are to have homes that are “appropriate and affordable.”

Council was told the amount of investment needed in infrastructure will be massive and close to $1 billion to prepare this level of housing.

A corporate report from Ron Gill, Surrey’s general manager of planning and development, notes that in April 2019 the provincial government brought in legislation requiring civic governments to produce a housing needs report (HNR) every five years.

“By the end of 2025, the City is required to review and update its Official Community Plan (“OCP”) and Zoning Bylaw to ensure there is enough capacity to accommodate the housing need identified in the 2025 HNR,” Gill explains.

He notes that Surrey has a “diverse, young, fast-growing population with larger households compared to the region and the second largest urban Indigenous population in B.C.” and sees from 3,000 to 4,500 homes built each year with most of them being apartments, row houses and homes with suites.

“Although home ownership remains an aspiration, it is out of reach for many residents and the proportion of renter households continues to increase compared to owner households,” Gill’s report reads. “While the stock of purpose-built rental housing is increasing, most renter households continue to rent in the secondary market, including secondary suites and rented condos. Renters continue to face greater housing challenges, such as unaffordability and overcrowding, especially lone-parent female-led households and single individuals.

Read the full article here