The City of Vancouver鈥檚 Renters Advisory Committee and LandlordBC want candidates running in upcoming municipal election races across Metro 麻豆传媒映画to brush up on their understanding of purpose-built rental housing.
They鈥檙e co-hosting an called 鈥楧elivering Rental Housing in your Community.' The primary speaker is Byron Chard, principal and chief financial officer for Chard Development Ltd.
The event is billed as a 鈥渄eep dive鈥� into the process, 鈥渇rom the early stages of making the decision, right through to the day the shovels are in the ground.鈥�
Organizers say it's particularly relevant to first-time candidates who may be less familiar with the issues.
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In Vancouver, six out of 10 councillors won鈥檛 be running for re-election, nor will Mayor Gregor Robertson, which leaves room for many new faces at the council table.
Due to the low vacancy rate and the difficulty people having finding affordable units, rental housing promises to be a top issue in this year鈥檚 campaign.
Renter households account for more than half of this Vancouver鈥檚 population 鈥� 53 per cent. Since 2010, more than 7,000 new rental units have been approved, built or are under construction. Far fewer rental units were built between 1980 and 2009, while there was a spike between 1950 and 1969. That means much of the existing, and often more affordable, stock is old and in need of upgrades or replacement.
The city鈥檚 Housing 麻豆传媒映画strategy aims to see 72,000 homes built over the next 10 years, with two-thirds of those as rental.
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David Hutniak, CEO of LandlordBC, which represents owners and managers of rental properties, said there are real challenges getting purpose-built rental housing built. He said more is needed and civic politicians have huge influence over that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our view that part of the problem is there is a knowledge gap in terms of what it takes to get it done and the cost drivers. We want to share a broader basis of what roles cities and municipalities have in that process,鈥� Hutniak said. 鈥溾�� We have an impending election, so it鈥檚 like the invitation says, 鈥業f you want to get elected, you better understand how to build purpose-built rental in your community.鈥� That鈥檚 fact. So that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to do here.鈥�
While Hutniak has seen some positive traction on the construction of rental housing, he said there鈥檚 a persistently low vacancy rate coupled with a growing population and the fact buying a home is out of reach for a majority of people who live in the region.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge gap here and when you look at jurisdictions like Seattle that are putting 12,000 to 15,000 or 16,000 units of rental into the market on an annual basis since 2015, that鈥檚 kind of a bench mark. That鈥檚 where we need to be and we鈥檙e nowhere near that.鈥�
Karen Sawatzky, chair of the Renters Advisory Committee, is equally concerned, especially as she鈥檚 a life-long renter.
She said the committee is very concerned about the vacancy rate across the region.
鈥淗elping to get candidates educated about the process, the different challenges and the costs involved in rental housing, is really important. Hopefully, the event will help forward the dialogue and discussion about rental housing, how to address that vacancy rate and how to improve the housing situation for renters so that they have more choices about who to rent from,鈥� she said.
鈥淩ight now, renters have so few options. That really means they have very little power. The vacancy rate means that landlords have all the power. We need to have more rental housing built, especially secure, long-term rental housing because a lot of our rental housing here, in the City of 麻豆传媒映画and regionally, is in insecure forms such as secondary suites and condominiums.鈥�
Sawatzky hopes the workshop attracts election candidates with a wide variety of political opinions and approaches to housing. Even if they think the rules should be different, she said it鈥檚 important for them to understand existing rules and processes.
The workshop is especially important for first-time candidates, she added, because if they are elected, they will have housing applications to vote on right away. The information provided at the event will help them make more informed decisions, help them understand how policy decisions affect what projects even get proposed, and help inform their platforms prior to the Oct. 20 election.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a complex topic. Developing rental housing is not a straight forward, easy thing. There鈥檚 a lot of different moving parts 鈥� there鈥檚 financing, all the different things you can do on the land, and all the rules that govern that鈥�,鈥� she said.
鈥淎 three-hour workshop is not going to make anyone an expert in this but, hopefully, it will increase people鈥檚 knowledge so they can speak knowledgably, ask better questions and maybe come up with more informed ideas about how to improve the situation.鈥�
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