Vancouver's social housing initiative

Churches and places of worship that are registered as a non-profit/charity under the Societies Act of British Columbia and have the resources to deliver their replacement worship space alongside the social housing will be eligible to pursue development on their sites under this proposal. There have been precedents in Vancouver where some places of worship have set up a non-profit or partnered with one to pursue non-market housing development with replacement worship space on their site. 

One of the challenges Churches/Places of worship sites have faced is the high cost of redevelopment where the social housing component does not provide enough rental revenue to support replacement of worship space alongside the housing. As part of this initiative, we are proposing a Rezoning Policy which would allow City Council to review and consider on a case-by-case basis non-profit projects with unique characteristics. This would include places of worship sites which may need a market housing component (e.g. market rental) for the project to be viable and deliver both social housing and replacement workshop space. 

This proposal responds to the following Council Motions: 

This proposal is also an implementation action of Vancouver Plan, which was approved by Council in July 2022.  

Under this proposal only registered non-profits or governments are allowed to pursue redevelopment of existing buildings. If your current building is privately owned then the owners will not be allowed to redevelop under this proposal unless they sell the building to a non-profit or government. 

If you currently live in a non-profit social housing building, then existing tenants are covered by the Non-Market Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy. Under this policy, applicants must provide a Tenant Relocation Plan that: 

Under this proposal only registered non-profits or governments are allowed to pursue redevelopment of existing buildings. If your current building is privately-owned then the owners will not be allowed to redevelop under this proposal unless they sell the building to a non-profit or government. 

While unlikely, if a market rental building is purchased by a non-profit and proposed for redevelopment for a greater number of social housing units then existing residents will be covered by the Non-Market Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy. The policy focuses on ensuring permanent rehousing options that maintains affordability for existing tenants by providing a suitable replacement home that is affordable to them and provides support with relocation and consideration of special circumstances (e.g. moving expenses, adaptability needs). Tenants whose incomes qualify may have the option to return to the new social housing building if they want to. For more information on protections for residents of non-market housing, please see Section 4 of the Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy. Non-profit redevelopment is different than private market redevelopment in that the project revenue cannot support large payments to existing tenants and so the policy is intended to balance providing an alternate rental unit that existing residents can afford and allowing more social housing units to be built to meet the need in Vancouver. 

No, a building must be owned by a non-profit or government, not the private sector, to qualify as social housing. Please see below for a more fulsome previous answer to this question.  

Previous answer posted to this question: 

Under this proposal, all the units in a new building would be secured as social housing via legal agreements, meaning all units are owned by a non-profit or government, not the private sector. At least 30% of these units must be affordable for people with incomes at or below the Housing Income Limits (HILs) set by BC Housing. Often, these affordable units are subsidized by other units in the building renting at the low-end of market.   

The intent of these requirements is to set a minimum affordability level that allows new social housing to be built. While deeper affordability is always targeted and often achieved with additional senior government funding, the minimum requirements are structured for flexibility to be resilient to changing conditions over time, and to support a variety of non-profit housing models that rely on different levels of senior government funding. Non-profit ownership allows for deeper levels of affordability over time as initial building costs are recovered and the mortgage on the building is paid off. 

The current Provincial and Federal governments have come to the table with support for new social housing; however, past governments have not always done the same. As we want to enable continuation of new non-profit housing delivery regardless of changes in senior levels of government, a flexible approach is important. 

* Shelter rate is the maximum shelter allowance for those on income assistance, set by the Province of British Columbia, e.g. for a single person this amount is $500/month. Read more on the website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/policies-for-government/bcea-policy-and-procedure-manual/bc-employment-and-assistance-rate-tables/income-assistance-rate-table 
** Housing Income Limits (HILs) represent the maximum gross household income for eligibility in many affordable housing programs 

Under the proposal, existing low-rise social housing buildings in villages and neighbourhood centres would be eligible to redevelop to provide a greater number of social housing units without a rezoning if they comply with zoning rules. Removing the rezoning process can save cost and reduce 1-2 years to the process of building a new project. However, non-profit redevelopments are still financially challenged, in most cases requiring senior government funding to be viable. This proposal also provides an option to renew and expand existing social housing buildings as they age and/or require significant repairs. 

Should an existing social housing building be proposed for redevelopment, tenants are protected under the Non-Market Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy, which seeks to balance the need to protect existing non-market housing tenants while recognizing that renewal and expansion of non-market housing is needed to address affordability needs in Vancouver. Under the Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy, existing residents of social housing will be provided with an affordable home suitable to their needs while redevelopment occurs and the right to return to the new building at rents affordable to their household. For more information on protections for residents of non-market housing, please see Section 4 of the Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy.  

The Vancouver Plan does provide direction in Neighbourhood Centres generally up to 12 storeys to deliver rental and social housing. However, this was considered in the context of market development i.e. market rental housing and inclusionary social housing built as part of a market condominium building. This proposal seeks to enable 100% social housing buildings which often require additional height/density to help with viability.  

The Vancouver Plan is intended to provide direction for the next 30 years and so it was anticipated that conditions will change over time and we will need to be responsive. This is why we have noted in the plan (pg. 77 footnote) to consider flexibility in height where equity goals are addressed, such as the delivery of affordable housing. This additional policy direction was considered combined with analysis of recently approved social housing buildings to determine the proposed upper height limits of generally 15 to 18 storeys, depending on individual site context. 

Under this proposal, all the units in a new building would be secured as social housing via legal agreements, meaning all units are owned by a non-profit or government, not the private sector. At least 30% of these units must be affordable for people with incomes at or below the Housing Income Limits (HILs) set by BC Housing. Often, these affordable units are subsidized by other units in the building renting at the low-end of market.   

The intent of these requirements is to set a minimum affordability level that allows new social housing to be built. While deeper affordability is always targeted and often achieved with additional senior government funding, the minimum requirements are structured for flexibility to be resilient to changing conditions over time, and to support a variety of non-profit housing models that rely on different levels of senior government funding. Non-profit ownership allows for deeper levels of affordability over time as initial building costs are recovered and the mortgage on the building is paid off. 

The current Provincial and Federal governments have come to the table with support for new social housing; however, past governments have not always done the same. As we want to enable continuation of new non-profit housing delivery regardless of changes in senior levels of government, a flexible approach is important. 

* Shelter rate is the maximum shelter allowance for those on income assistance, set by the Province of British Columbia, e.g. for a single person this amount is $500/month. Read more on the website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/policies-for-government/bcea-policy-and-procedure-manual/bc-employment-and-assistance-rate-tables/income-assistance-rate-table 
** Housing Income Limits (HILs) represent the maximum gross household income for eligibility in many affordable housing programs