Despite a slow start that drew a rebuke from B.C.’s Housing Ministry this summer, the City of Delta has exceeded its first provincially-mandated housing target.
Under a ministerial order that came into effect Oct. 1, 2023, the city is obliged to add 3,607 net new housing units (completed homes, as measured by occupancy permits issued minus any units demolished) by Sept. 30, 2028. The target represents 75 per cent of the identified housing need in Delta.
The order also sets annual cumulative benchmarks the city must meet along the way and requires the city report on its progress, both in terms of completed units and steps taken to ensure it meets the housing targets.
On Monday (Oct. 21), council received a progress report covering the first reporting period — Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024 — that shows the city added 561 net new units, exceeding the year-one target of 514.
Furthermore, the report highlights “strong efforts” that were made towards approving projects at all stages of development over the past year, with council giving third reading to 1,847 applications, final approval to 572, and the city issuing two development permits and 1,166 building permits.
“I am incredibly proud of Delta’s commitment to building more housing for our growing population, and I commend staff for the work that has gone into reaching this milestone,” Mayor George Harvie said in a press release.
“We know that housing is a critical issue across our region, and Delta is doing everything possible to address the housing crisis in our own unique context. I look forward to continuing this vital work as we set out to build the diverse housing options that our community needs.”
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A six-month progress report submitted by the city earlier this year showed the city had issued 242 occupancy permits from Oct. 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 — 47 per cent of the 514 new homes required by the end of September.
However, Delta's numbers were calculated using a different metric than that set out by the ministry as the city took issue with some aspects of the reporting process — notably the province’s reliance on occupancy permits as a measure of new housing created and problems with the reporting form itself.
By the province's count the number of newly-completed homes in the city over those six months was substantially lower.
In June, the province released its own figures, which showed Delta was only 22 per cent of the way to meeting its year-one target, less than half of what was reported by the city.
Noting some municipalities, including Delta, were "not making as much progress as expected," the ministry encouraged them to “expedite their processes and comply with the new requirements to ensure that housing is being built where it’s needed," according to a press release issued at the time.
"Compliance measures may be taken if satisfactory progress is not made by the time annual progress reports are made, to ensure that municipalities are taking action to build homes for people as quickly as possible."
After several failed attempts at convincing the ministry to change how new units were to be tallied, the city changed course, and the data presented to council Monday evening was calculated using the method set out by the province.
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Of the 3,607 net new housing units needed in Delta by Sept. 30, 2028, provincial guidelines say the bulk of them (2,021) should be studio or one-bedroom, while 682 should be two-bedroom and 904 three bedrooms or more.
As well, more than half of the new units (2,030) must be rentals — 830 let at below-market rates, and 95 designated as supportive rental units.
The reporting form the city will be submitting to the Housing Targets Branch of B.C.’s Ministry of Housing, which was included with the staff report to council, says 687 units were completed between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, while 126 were demolished, for a net total of 561 new units. It also breaks down the new units by type, tenure and rental affordability.
By type, the city says it added five studio, 221 one-bedroom, 180 two-bedroom, 79 three-bedroom, and 172 four-or-more-bedroom units. Curiously, that adds up to 657 units, 30 fewer than the gross number of units the city says were completed and 96 more than the net new units being reported.
The North Delta Reporter reached out to the city to ask about the apparent discrepancy, but did not hear back before the paper's press deadline on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
By tenure, the city says it added 299 “owned” units and 357 rentals, 130 of which were purpose built, 226 of which were secondary suites, and one which was an accessory dwelling (like a carriage house or garden suite). Here, too, the numbers do not seem to align with those listed elsewhere on the form: 299 plus 357 equals 656, one less than the number listed by type and also out of step with the completions and net total being reported.
The Reporter also reached out to the city to ask about this apparent discrepancy, but did not hear back by Wednesday’s press deadline.
Of the 357 rentals being reported, 227 are listed as market units, while 130 are below-market dwellings. No below-market rental units with on-site supports were completed during the reporting period.
After a follow-up request for information, a city spokesperson did provide an explanation for the above noted discrepancies on Friday, Nov 1, essentially chalking them up to human error.
"The additional figures provided are supplemental information. These are pulled from our software and manually totalled, as our municipal software system was not designed to calculate information of this granularity," the unnamed spokesperson wrote in their email to the Reporter.
"As a result, these figures have a higher margin of error and are useful to give a big picture understanding of proportions and direction of progress, rather than a precise total of where we are at when the figures were calculated."
They went on to say that most municipalities are facing a similar challenge as they, like Delta, "do not have systems designed to track the kind of data the Province is requesting."
"Currently, Delta is working with a consultant to develop a dashboard that will make the process easier, more reliable and more consistent for future reports."
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Expanding on the “strong efforts” made to meet the city’s future housing targets, the report mentions several “projects of interest” in North Delta that “reached development milestones and are captured in the numbers reported for this period,” including 35 townhomes at 83rd Avenue and 115th Street and two six-storey apartment buildings on 119A Street with a combined 291 units between them, both projects which received final adoption over the last year and are now under construction.
Another project now under construction is the “Walker House” project at Scott Road and 93A Avenue, which received building permits for a highrise with 264 market strata units and a six-storey building with 50 purpose-built rental units, 10 of which will be rented at 10 per cent below market rates, all secured for 20 years through a site-specific rezoning — a first for Delta.
As well, the report noted third reading was granted to a 285-unit apartment building on 75A Avenue and a mixed-use highrise development proposal at the Delta Shoppers Mall site with 643 market units, 150 senior-oriented rental units, 66 market rental units and 17 below-market rental units in four buildings ranging in height from six to 32 storeys.
Over the reporting period, 207 housing units were withdrawn by the applicant from the development approvals process, 165 of those owing to a single project that changed ownership. The report notes the site’s new owner is preparing an application that will provide 265 new units of housing.
“The remaining units were single-detached homes, duplexes or secondary suites, with several owners citing construction costs when cancelling their applications,” the report states. “Some noted they are considering the implications of the provincial small-scale multi-unit housing legislation.”
The report says no projects were denied approval over the last year.
The annual cumulative benchmarks set out in the provincial order are: 514 net new units by Sept. 30, 2024; 1,098 by Sept. 30, 2025; 1,785 by Sept. 30, 2026; 2,609 by Sept. 30, 2027; and 3,607 by Sept. 30, 2028.
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