Nine projects are under construction, and none have been completed. After the city received 60 applications from developers for the 2017 pilot project, only 16 projects went ahead. ![]() “Because of the amount of height and density, they thought: ‘Oh you’re finally trying to work with us on delivering an affordable rental product, and we’re interested.'”īut that initial surge of interest did not produce the desired results. When the pilot launched in 2017, initially “the development industry was excited,” Garrison said. Now, staff propose changing the policies so all below-market units are set at 20 per cent less than citywide average rents calculated by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The original 2017 pilot capped starting rents using a formula based on median renter incomes at that time. There’s about 15,000 or 16,000 units of rental housing trying to move through this pipeline,” Garrison said. “We’re trying to shift to a standardized program that’s creating thousands of units. It could mean rents as much as 13 per cent higher, with some two-bedrooms increasing to $1,818 a month from the previous limit of $1,600 a month. In certain cases, the new starting rents could be marginally lower than what was previously approved.īut in most cases, the proposed policy would mean higher starting rents in below-market units. The changes to starting rents would vary depending on unit types and when specific projects were approved. Next week, council will consider staff’s proposal to align these below-market policies to make projects easier for staff to process and more viable for builders to finance and build. “But all of them use a slightly different approach to how we structure below-market (rentals), and it’s a little bit crazy-making, frankly,” said Dan Garrison, Vancouver’s director of housing policy. This started with a moderate income rental housing pilot project in 2017, but similar below-market rental policies were included in subsequent plans affecting neighbourhoods in every corner of the city. The city has policies meant to push for-profit developers to build projects combining about 80 per cent market rental housing with 20 per cent below-market units. And, they say, increasing starting rents for below-market units and changing the rent-control mechanism will be worthwhile if it means these homes actually get built. ![]() The proposal, released Wednesday, will be unpopular with some.īut city staff say the below-market rental policies approved in 2017 are not working in today’s environment. The trade-off is making the below-market homes less affordable and loosening rent-control rules. Now, Vancouver’s planning department is proposing policy amendments they say could boost building of thousands of needed market and below-market rentals. Westcoast Homes & Design Previous IssuesĬity figures show 70 rental projects have been approved - including about 8,350 market rentals and 1,150 below-market homes - and have not begun construction. ![]()
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