Vancouver releases plan to allocate more family housing

Dec 19 2017, 11:36 pm

The City of Vancouver has released a plan that details strategies it will take in attempt to increase family housing in proximity to schools, community centres and parks.

The report finds that 8,000 families live in one bedroom and studio apartments. There are also 621 Vancouver households with three or more family members on the B.C. Housing Wait list.

The policies that are being reviewed include focusing on creating three bedroom strata units by boosting family units to 35 per cent in all future re-zonings, setting a minimum of 10 per cent of them as three-bedroom units, and having 50 per cent of social housing units to be family-oriented.

The plan also looks into ways to develop affordable housing for families, and proposes to research ways it can allocate “entry-level homeownership models” to support families who live in Vancouver.

The report says the federal government spends 40 per cent less on affordable housing than it did in 1989, and would reach nearly zero in 2036 if continued at this rate.

“There is a clear need for more family housing in Vancouver, and City Hall is doing everything we can to make sure new housing is built that meets the needs of Vancouver families,” said Mayor Robertson in a statement. “Family housing is crucial for both the health of our neighbourhoods, as well as supporting our growing economy, so that we can attract and retain people who want to work in Vancouver.

In 2011, 31 per cent of families lived in apartments, and 69 per cent in ground-oriented units.

In May, Robertson called on the provincial government to take action on the city’s housing crisis by implementing a speculation tax.

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Pressure is on for the city to research solutions to solve Vancouver’s housing crisis, as the average price for a singe-family detached home in Vancouver reached $2.23-million in May.

City staff will be reporting back on the plan later this year.

 

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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