Back in 2021, Langley City Council approved in principle updating our zoning bylaw to allow a 6-storey, 113-unit apartment building at 5382 200 Street, which is at the southeast corner of Michaud Crescent and 200th Street. Council gave final reading and issued a development permit in June 2023. There are gaps between approval in principle and approval because it takes builders time to finalize their projects. Some builders are quick, and others are slower.
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| Rendering of apartment under construction at 5382 200 Street. Select the image to enlarge. |
The original unit mix for the building was:
1 Bedroom - 41 Units
1 Bedroom & Flex Room - 10 Units
2 Bedrooms - 34 Units
2 Bedroom & Flex Room - 12 Units
2 Bedroom & Flex Room (Adaptable) - 5 Units
2 Bedroom (Adaptable) - 1 Unit
3 Bedroom & Flex Room - 5 Units
Studios - 5 Units
Langley City doesn't have a unit mix policy, but we do have a housing needs report, as the provincial government requires. Our greatest need is for studio through 2-bedroom units. However, our housing needs report does call out that about 25% of new units should be three bedrooms or greater and that those unit types should be subsidized.
On Monday, the applicant told the City Council that as a market rental building, their three-bedroom units would require a household income of $200,000 for a family to afford them. The applicant said they could not rent out these units as the rents would be higher than what people are willing to pay. They stated that the rents for these three-bedroom units would be about the same as those for a three-bedroom townhouse in Langley City, which families prefer. They said they would have to rent these three-bedroom units below their construction cost. As such, they requested the zoning bylaw be updated to change the unit mix to:
1 Bedroom - 50 Units
1 Bedroom & Flex Room - 10 Units
1 Bedroom (Adaptable) - 1 Unit
2 Bedrooms - 34 Units
2 Bedroom & Flex Room - 12 Units
2 Bedroom & Flex Room (Adaptable) - 5 Units
2 Bedroom (Adaptable) - 1 Unit
Studios - 5 Units
On Monday night, after some discussion, Langley City Council gave the first and second readings to update the zoning for the project under construction at 5382 200 Street in a 3-2 vote.
Langley City is still seeing new townhouses built with three-bedroom units and even some other apartment projects, but the real point is that three-bedroom units are simply out of the price range for families these days. I know that Langley City Council is looking at policies on how we can incentivize building below-market, three-bedroom housing, among other below-market housing policies we are exploring. The provincial and federal governments must play a significant role in incentivizing the construction of affordable three- or more-bedroom housing for families.
As a note, "adaptable" means a unit that can be easily modified for people with different accessibility or mobility requirements.
2 comments:
Yet another building with no 3 or 4 bedrooms. Where are families supposed to move?
There are many townhouses being built in Langley City as well, including in my neighbourhood which have 3+ bedrooms for families.
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