Are Langley Condo Residents Getting a Raw Deal on Utilities?
In spring 2025, a delegation by a strata council treasurer representing local strata councils highlighted several systemic inequities to the Township Council. My findings align with their presentation, which can be reviewed here. The delegation’s message was clear: Langley Township’s utility rates for strata apartments are financially punitive and unfair compared to those applied to other housing types.
Condo residents typically consume less water than those in single-family homes — which usually have more residents and water-hungry yards. Despite this, condo owners are charged the same flat utility rate as single-family homeowners: $1,550 per year.
Furthermore, single-family homeowners (but not condo owners) have the option of switching to metered billing, which often reduces their bill by $200–$300 per year.
To highlight the inequity, the annual flat fee breaks down to approximately:
$0.75/sq. ft. for a typical detached home
$1.03/sq. ft. for a typical townhome
$2.00+/sq. ft. for a typical condo
Residents who have contacted the Township with concerns report being met with unhelpful responses such as, “Too bad, that’s the way it is,” or “You chose to live here.” These responses reflect a worrying lack of responsiveness and basic respect for legitimate concerns from tax-paying residents.
Higher-density multi-family building residents, who occupy less land and consume fewer resources, are effectively subsidizing their wealthier single-family home counterparts under the current flat-rate system.
Compared to nearby municipalities like Surrey, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam, Langley’s utility system appears to be an outlier. These cities employ tiered utility systems where multi-unit buildings pay significantly less than detached homes. The result is that condo residents in these cities pay significantly lower rates than Township residents do:
Surrey: $552 less/year compared to Langley
Coquitlam: $494 less/year compared to Langley
Port Coquitlam: $669 less/year compared to Langley
Langley vs. Surrey: A Stark Comparison In 2025, Langley’s flat utility rate for water and sewer for strata units is $1,549.16. In contrast, equivalent services in Surrey cost just under $1,000 annually, representing a difference of over 50%. Notably, Surrey faces similar challenges to Langley in terms of utility distribution — rapid population growth and a large geographic area to service.
Mayor Woodward’s Response: Sympathy, Shifting Blame, and Uncertain Timelines During the delegation meeting, Mayor Woodward acknowledged the frustration, stating that he recognized the flat-rate utility system places a heavier burden on condo owners. He admitted the system, though administratively simple, lacks equity and does not reflect actual usage patterns.
Woodward’s response can be summarized as follows:
Blame on the Province (for not requiring metering)
Blame on the previous Council (for poor planning)
Blame on the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant (a fiasco contributing to a 17% rate increase tied to its $4 billion price tag)
Blame on Langley’s geography (for high delivery costs)
It should be noted that two of the four factors apply to all municipalities in Metro Vancouver, and none of the factors relate to why condominium residents in particular pay an inflated cost in the Township compared to similar municipalities.
Woodward also referenced Surrey’s tiered system as a potential model and indicated that staff might study alternatives. Despite hinting at staff "studying" Surrey’s model, he stopped short of proposing specific reforms or timelines, emphasizing instead that any changes would require council deliberation and budget scrutiny.
The Shift: Utility “Modernization,” or Policy Sleight of Hand? The current situation stems from an October 2024 council vote that separated utility fees from property taxes under the guise of "Obsolete Policies" and removed the option to defer payments. As Councillor Kim Richter warned at the time, this separation has indeed led to “confusion and hardship.”
The Path Forward Langley’s utility billing system isn’t just outdated — it’s unjust. Flat rates penalize efficient, high-density households while subsidizing sprawling ones, undermining the Township’s affordability and sustainability goals. The inequity is also economic, as condo residents are far less wealthy than single-family homeowners.
The delegation’s presentation made one thing abundantly clear: this issue is not going away. If Langley’s leaders are serious about affordable housing and fair governance, the path forward is clear. Transition to a tiered or metered utility system, provide real individual billing options for strata units, and ensure that high-density living isn’t penalized in a municipality already facing affordability pressures.
For the current situation to be resolved, I believe that Mayor Woodward and Township Council must:
Adopt a tiered rate structure based on actual consumption, similar to Surrey’s
Support retrofitting for metering in condos and townhomes, with safeguards for reversibility
Restore utility deferral options for low-income owners
Set clear deadlines for reform, moving beyond vague promises of “study”
Thank you for taking the time to read. Got any additional questions about water policy? Or ideas of what I should dig into next? Let me know in the comments!