Last Date Modified Thursday, February 22, 2018

Vancouver city council approved a new Housing Vancouver strategy and three-year action plan on November 29, 2017. 

The goal of the strategy is “to create more affordable housing options for young people, growing families, seniors and our most vulnerable residents,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. 

There are 120 actions in the strategy which fall under the following 10 priorities: 

  1. Shift toward the “right supply” by increasing rental and social housing near transit and arterials like the Broadway corridor, Nanaimo station, 29th Avenue station, and Olympic Village station. Low-density neighbourhoods will see new infill housing and multiple homes on a single lot, as well as townhouses and low-rise apartments in areas with public amenities. The city will also implement a Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program (see point 3). 
  2. Limit speculation and stabilize land value by working with senior levels of government to develop tax and financial regulations including a speculation and flipping tax, increased Property Transfer Tax on luxury properties, and closing loopholes around capital gains taxes. 
  3. Increase rental protection and affordability to ensure rents remain affordable after redevelopment, the city plans to preserve the existing 90,000 rental homes in Vancouver by lowering the trigger for one-for-one replacement of rentals. A new Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program will incentivize developers through density bonusing to build 100 per cent rental buildings where 20 per cent of the units are permanently affordable for households earning $30,000 - $80,000 annually. Over the next decade 2,000 co-op homes will also be built. 
  4. Review city processes for housing, rezoning and development to simplify city approaches. Reduce processing times and speed up the rezoning and community amenity contributions (CAC) process for market rental development applications. 
  5. Support diverse ways of living by permitting collective housing by amending the Zoning and Development By-law to permit six or more unrelated roommates in single-family areas. 
  6. Provide housing for homeless residents by requesting funding to build 1,200 units of temporary modular housing on city-owned sites in the next two years. 
  7. Develop a new 10-Year Affordable Housing Delivery and Financial Plan to support development of 12,000 social, supportive and co-op homes. 
  8. Improve livability of single room occupancy (SRO) hotels by replacing 50 per cent with new self-contained social housing. The city will also establish an SRO revitalization fund to renovate 10 privately owned buildings. 
  9. Launch the new Social Purpose Real Estate Incentive Program to support non-profits and co-ops who own their land and buildings to redevelop and expand affordable housing. 
  10. Build five new Aboriginal housing developments through partnerships with Aboriginal agencies, and create a 10-Year Aboriginal Housing strategy in support of the city’s ongoing efforts for reconciliation. 

The strategy builds on measures Vancouver is already taking, including the Empty Homes Tax; short-term rental regulation; and temporary modular housing for low income and homeless residents.

Number of new homes coming

The goal: 72,000 new homes will be delivered in 10 years.

  • 50 per cent of new homes targeted at families earning less than $80,000.
  • 29,000 homes (40 per cent) will be for families.
  • 48,000 homes (55per cent) will be for renters.
  • 12,000 homes will be social, supportive and non-profit co-operative homes; 4,100 will have supports.
  • 20,000 homes will be secure long-term market rental homes.
  • 4,000 new laneway homes will provide ground-oriented homes for couples and families.

Addressing speculation and housing demand

Vancouver has seen rapid home price growth which city officials believe is “fueled by more than just households looking for primary homes.”

So far, the strategy has been to implement the Empty Homes Tax and the Short-Term Rental regulations. 

The next step is a pilot program directed at newly constructed housing for residents who live and work in Vancouver. This will include:

  • a rezoning policy to require developers to market pre-sale strata units to residents already living and working in Metro Vancouver before units are marketed and sold nationally or internationally; and
  • additional measures such as requiring the developer to limit bulk sales and include terms in the contract of purchase and sale to prevent the flipping of assignments for profit. 

The city plans to work with senior governments on tax and financial regulations to limit the commodification of housing and land for speculative investment. It also aims to reform the current taxation regimes as they relate to wealth generated from such activities. This will include:

  • reviewing and reforming applicable federal and provincial tax regulations, encompassing income taxes and capital gains taxes, and closing loopholes;
  • introducing a speculation and flipping tax;
  • increasing the provincial property transfer tax; and
  • restricting property ownership by non-permanent residents and limiting new home sale and resale to local buyers. 

The city will evaluate opportunities to enhance property tax regulations, including:

  • applying differential property tax rates on residential properties depending on property value and ownership type (principal residence vs. investment holding);
  • linking property tax to income taxes paid in BC; and
  • revisiting the property tax deferral program to encourage more efficient land use and increase housing diversity. 

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