iN NUMBERS: How Kamloops, Okanagan took on the housing crisis in 2024

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You might hear that we’re making some progress on the housing crisis, but if you’re a renter you probably haven’t felt it in your wallet yet.

Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon put out some housing numbers for 2024.

Some figures are worth bragging about while others, not so much.

Here are the numbers:

• 260: Housing starts in Penticton in 2024.
• 28: Non-market, or below market cost, housing units started in Penticton in 2024.
• 20,300: Dollars in grants for affordable housing in Penticton in 2024, or roughly the equivalent of a month’s rent for 20 people.
• 172: Housing units approved in Vernon in 2024.
• 415: Is the five-year average of housing unit approval for Vernon, but the city says it’s back on track in 2025.
• 449: New housing units were occupied in Kamloops in 2024, short of the 679 target set by the provincial government.
• 7,856: New housing units needed in Kamloops by 2026.
• 2.8: Weeks to process a residential building permit in Kamloops in 2024.
• 1,599: Housing starts in Kelowna in 2024, down from 4,039 in 2023.
• 1.5: Million in tax exemptions for purpose-built rentals in Kelowna in 2024.