Housing needs assessment shows safe, affordable, and inclusive housing is increasingly difficult to find

The City of Merritt recently completed a housing needs assessment of the community. The assessment is a legislative requirement in BC and was undertaken by M’Akola Development Services. 

“Safe, affordable, and inclusive housing is vital to societal, economic, and individual health and well-being in the City of Merritt. Unfortunately, safe, affordable, and inclusive housing is increasingly difficult to find,” reads the report. 

Some of the key findings for the City of Merritt includes;

– Senior populations are rapidly growing

– Rental households are more frequent and are less able to meet their housing needs

– Homeownership is becoming more difficult to enter for moderate to low-income households

– Non-market and supportive housing is widely needed

– Many community assets exist to address housing issues

“Merritt has the highest rate of rentership in the study area with 32% of households renting and 68% owning. Between 2006 and 2016, renter households grew by 15% while owner households only increased by about 2%,” continues the report. 

“Renter households also earn significantly less income than owner households. The median owner household in Merritt earned an estimated $80,569 and the median renter household earned $37,467.”

The entire housing needs assessment can be found in the minutes for the February 23 Regular Council Meeting. (https://www.merritt.ca/agendas-minutes/)