The high-profile city task force has made its first recommendations to salvage affordable housing in Vancouver.
The Housing Affordability Task Force released a progress report Monday, identifying key “quick-start” actions to be taken by city hall to stimulate affordable housing development.
Those actions include fast-tracking affordable rental-building applications as well as using city-owned land for co-op and non-profit developments.
“I think we’re going to be talking a lot about gently densifying neighbourhoods, such as you’ve seen with laneway housing,” said former B.C. cabinet minister and task force co-chair Olga Ilich.
“(In) an area of land that has already been zoned — the Cambie corridor — there are a few things which are causing a bit of a roadblock for the delivery of houses,” Ilich said.
One of those roadblocks is the community contribution amenity, a stipulation meant to address affordable housing by requiring developers to build some residential units for lower-income buyers.
“So (the city) has basically said to the development community, ‘If you want to build the kind of product you want to build, you must also include some lost-cost rental.’ And that’s not been clearly spelled out as to how that’s going to happen,” Ilich said.
The task force — composed of developers, city officials, academics and others — will issue a full report in June on housing options for households with income between $ 21,500 and $ 86,500.
Public consultation will also be collected before the final report is issued.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
About The Reporter
