There is a desperate need for more townhomes as affordable housing option for move-up buyers and growing families – but just nine per cent of Metro Vancouver's inventory comprises attached homes with three bedrooms, according to a study released by Vancity September 17.
And less than 10 per cent of those properties hit the market for resale in 2014, said the report. With single-family homes out of the reach of most, the dire shortage of townhomes means that young couples and families wanting to move from condos into larger properties are “stuck” in their starter homes.
The same sentiment was vocalized by Brian Jackson, the City of Vancouver’s top planner, who delivered his outgoing speech to an Urban Development Institute luncheon September 17 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Jackson argued that the city didn’t need an overarching city plan, as there is so much documentation already in place, but he did say that townhome strategy and community amenity contributions both needed fixing.
“We don’t need any more complexity. A city plan is a nice-to-have, not a have-to-have. But do we need any new policy to guide future development in Vancouver? Yes, we do. There’s one missing component… and that’s townhouses. We need an arterial roads policy to guide development for townhouses, stacked townhouses and row houses… looking at where townhouse could be situated.
“Simply put, we need more townhouses. It won’t be easy, as you’re talking about development adjacent to single-family homes. This is unchartered territory for Vancouver. It’ll be hard, and messy, and it will take some time.”
Jackson said that the 150,000 more people expected to move to Vancouver in the next few decades could be manageably accommodated by the developments already in the pipeline under the neighbourhood plans put in place.
Jackson’s speech, which received a rapturous standing ovation from the packed room of development industry leaders, also encouraged the industry to “ignore the haters” when dealing with public consultations.
He said that anti-development criticism has been getting angrier and meaner, amplified by social media to such an extent that it was difficult to establish what the real level of public concern is.
Gavin Duffus of the Urban Development Institute told CBC in response to the Vancity report, “If you'll zone all single family neighbourhoods to allow townhomes, that would open the door for townhome development.”
