While most homes in Surrey are still single-family dwellings, multi-family units are on the rise, a new report reveals.
Over the past five years, the percentage of multi-family units in Surrey has grown from 34 per cent to 37.6 per cent.
By 2021, more than 40 per cent of Surrey’s housing stock is expected to consist of multi-family units.
At the end of 2016, there were an estimated 187,893 total dwelling units in all of Surrey, including secondary suites.
Of this total, 117,189 (or 62.4 per cent) were one- or two-family units in detached homes, 35,444 (18.9 per cent) were townhouse and row house units and 35,260 (18.8 per cent) were apartments.
In the past six years, approximately 17,459 new dwelling units (including secondary suites and coach houses) have been constructed in Surrey — an average of 3,461 per year.
Last year, 4,301 new dwelling units were built in Surrey, including 1,609 one- and two-family houses (including secondary suites), 1,627 townhouses and row homes, and 1,065 apartments.
With 616 single family units demolished in 2016, the net increase to Surrey’s housing stock was 3,685.
Growth expected in future
The City of Surrey estimates that 19,441 housing units will be built in Surrey over the next five years, equating to an average of 3,888 units annually.
The city expects that townhouses and apartments will dominate this year’s new housing projects.
The city’s five-year average of new multi-family projects is projected to be 70 to 75 per cent of all new units.
This due to increasing regional housing affordability challenges and the shrinking of the average household size in terms of number of occupants, according to the city report.
The report notes that the last decade has seen a drop in the proportion of single family and two-family homes, “a trend which is likely to increase over time as new neighbourhoods are built out and a higher percentage of multi-family units are constructed in City Centre, town centre and in-fill locations.”
Urban centre growth
As of December 2016, there were approximately 25,830 units constructed in Surrey’s City Centre and other urban centres.
Another 5,598 are in the pipeline.
These areas provide a build-out capacity of 61,491 homes, accommodating about 124,222 people, and currently 41 per cent is constructed.
As a whole, the housing stock available in all the urban centres in Surrey reached a total of 30,395 unit in 2016.
Those numbers are expected to increase by 5,597 units over the next five years.
Population
As of December 2016, Surrey’s population was estimated at 525,220 residents, which accounts for just over 20 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s entire population.
Over the past five years (2011 to 2016), the city’s population crew by 41,510.
Another 49,730 residents are projected for the five years from 2016 to 2021, which would bring the city’s population to 574,950.
