Promise Tracker: Standing Up for Renters
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COMPLETE: Expropriate troubled Single Room Occupancy Hotels
Mayor Kennedy Stewart is committed to using every tool the city has to make sure SRO owners are keeping buildings safe. He has already expropriated the Regent and Balmoral buildings and we've taken action against the Regal. Kennedy Stewart has also been working closely with provincial and federal partners to develop a new SRO strategy with a focus on bringing more SROs into public ownership.
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COMPLETE: Set up a renters advocate office
A Renters Office was approved in 2019. Since that time, staff have been working to support renters by providing information and referrals. Plans are underway for a permanent physical space for this important work.
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COMPLETE: Better enforce existing right of first refusal and relocation policies
In Nov 2019, Mayor Kennedy Stewart strengthened the city's Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy to broaden the housing types included and increase compensation. Kennedy Stewart also moved forward with stronger measures to protect tenants from renovictions and demo-victions in Oct 2020. And, with the passage of MakingHOME in January of 2022, he will extend renters protections to single detached homes for the first time ever.
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COMPLETE: New Report within the first year outlining how to make life more affordable for renters
Mayor Kennedy Stewart supported changes to the way we build rental homes in our city, including the removal of public hearings for rental buildings in commercial zones where it is currently possible to build strata without a rezoning. Kennedy Stewart also supported changes that allow a smoother process to build rentals in areas where it was only possible to build duplexes or single-family houses. Both of these changes will include, for the first time in Vancouver, the use of rental-only zoning.
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ON TRACK: Build 25,000 new purpose-built rental apartments and laneway homes over the next decade
Mayor Kennedy Stewart is on track to meet these targets thanks to a renewed focus on approving more housing across Vancouver.
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ON TRACK: Increase resources to expedite purpose built rental development through a new purpose-built rental housing office to provide a single point of contact
In December 2021, Council approved a new suite of rental incentives and zoning changes that would fast-track rental housing in areas close to shopping, as well as near parks and schools. The new policy also allowed rentals to be built off arterials on quieter streets without long and costly rezonings. These changes are estimated to bring 4000 new market and below market rentals over the next 10 years.
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ON TRACK: Rental zoning to build secure rental housing developments
In December 2021, Council approved the first use of rental-only zoning as part of its work to streamline the building of rental homes, ensuring that these sites will always provide space for renters.