Building 1,844 units of new housing over the next five years shouldn't be a problem, 91Ô­´´ City Mayor Nathan Pachal said.

On Tuesday, July 30 the province released housing targets for 10 more cities and towns around B.C., the third such set of targets issued this year as efforts to increase the housing supply continue.

"If we do nothing, we will more than exceed the housing order with what we have on the books right now," said Pachal.

At present there are about 3,000 units in the development stream within 91Ô­´´ City, he noted. Not every one of those units will be built – developers sometimes cancel or revamp their plans – but that's still a lot of housing planned for the near future.

Some of those are from larger projects, like the towers proposed for the current 91Ô­´´ Mall site, or another large development planned at the current Fitness Unlimited location on Logan Avenue.

There are also a significant number of smaller projects. Pachal noted the City just approved a four-unit rowhouse development this month. 

However, there are other recommendations bundled with the 1,844 unit housing requirement. 

The province is recommending that out of that total number, the City create:

• 1,034 owner-held units and 810 rented units

• 987 studio or one bedroom units, 438 two-bedroom units, and 508 three-bedroom units

• 390 market rate rentals and 420 below-market rentals

• 23 supportive housing units.

"We're fairly sure we'll meet the renter/owner split," said Pachal.

But with getting more supportive housing and below-market rentals, provincial help would be useful.

Pachal pointed to the 91Ô­´´ Lions Housing Society's downtown complex, which primarily serves low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and others unable to afford market rentals.

The society has been replacing some of the aging housing and adding more units, but if they had consistent, committed funding from Victoria, they could build 463 new below-market rental units, Pachal noted.

As far as the split goes between one, two, and three bedroom units in general, Pachal said that townhouses are making up a good portion of the three-bedroom units right now in the City.

Making larger developments viable with more bedrooms is difficult financially, and at a certain point, developers can't get financing.

"There's only so much we can request from the private sector without making a project unviable," Pachal said.

Since last fall, the province has released housing targets for 30 municipalities so far, including Vancouver, Abbotsford, Victoria, and New Westminster.