Nanaimo is on its way to meet its annual target for new net housing, according to a report by city staff.
According to Jeremy Holm, the city's director of planning and development, speaking at a meeting on Monday, Feb. 24, the city approved development permits for 582 units during the second half of 2024.
"The city is well on the way to achieving the first year's targets of 782 units. Of course there's factors outside of the city's control that influence whether or not projects go ahead and the timing of those," Holm said. "Interest rates, tariffs, supply chain challenges, the labour market, there's a number of different factors that obviously affect whether or not developers go ahead with projects."
The housing targets came from a provincial ministerial order last June. As a result, the city is required to meet fixed housing unit approval numbers from 2024 to 2029.
A combined 248 of the housing units out of the 582 approved in Nanaimo in the second half of 2024 came from two re-zoning applications that were approved.
In his report, Holm noted that the length of time between building permit issuance and completion can vary significantly depending on the size of the development and the scope of the project. After the development permit is approved, an applicant can proceed to the building permit application stage.
"We've actually approved occupancy for 582 units, but there were a little more than 40 units demolished in the same time period to make way for the new units."
The next progress report will be presented to council in July, covering the full-year reporting period.
While the city is on pace to meet the targe, the city's housing needs assessment, a separate report presented in December, indicated the city needs closer to 1,300 new homes per year in order to accommodate population growth.
