Vote Vancouver on housing: city land, faith land, supportive homes and SROs
Housing and Belonging is the first section of Vote Vancouver's platform. It would name five parcels of city land for affordable housing within one month, target rents at no more than 30% of household income, give the city first right to buy faith-owned land and reverse the ban on supportive housing.
CITY COUNCIL · PAGES 9 TO 12
The aim of Housing and Belonging, in the party's words
Vote Vancouver will use the land, partnerships and resources available to the City to build more affordable housing that includes childcare and create complete communities.
Vote Vancouver opens its Policy Priorities with Housing and Belonging, on pages 9 to 12. The party says housing is more than a building, and that a community also needs services, childcare, schools and a sense of belonging. Its chapters cover building on city-owned land, the land held by faith groups, and a list of supportive and community housing steps.
The party's main promises are about land. It would name five parcels of public land with a timeline within one month of taking office, and target new public housing at no more than 30% of household income. It would pass a bylaw giving the city the first chance to buy faith-owned land that comes up for sale. It would also reverse what it calls the ban on new supportive housing, and replace old single room occupancy hotels, known as SROs, with self-contained homes.
City Council controls zoning, permits and city-owned land, so it can act alone on much of this section. Health, addiction and mental health services that the party wants linked to supportive housing are run by the Province. The party also names non-profits, community land trusts and the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations as partners.
3 CHAPTERS
Every chapter in Housing and Belonging
Build Affordable Housing on Public Land
Vote Vancouver: five city land parcels in a month, rents at 30% of income
- Affordable housing on underused city-owned sites
- Five parcels named within one month
- Rents at no more than 30% of household income
Faith-Based Land Redevelopment
Vote Vancouver on faith land: first right to buy, and help to redevelop
- Right-of-first-refusal bylaw for faith-owned land
- Purchased land used for housing, childcare and services
- City partnership to redevelop without selling
Supportive and Community Housing
Vote Vancouver: reverse the supportive housing ban, replace SROs, land trusts
- Complete communities with childcare and schools
- Reverse the ban on supportive housing
- Replace SROs with self-contained housing
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Who holds the power for these 22 commitments
Each chapter page names the body for every commitment and gives the reason in one sentence.
ON THE BALLOT
The Vote Vancouver candidates behind this
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about Housing and Belonging
What is Vote Vancouver's housing plan?
Vote Vancouver would build affordable housing on unused or underused city-owned land, naming five parcels with a timeline within one month of taking office. New public housing would target no more than 30% of household income, and non-profit or community groups would run the buildings (Policy Priorities, page 10).
Does Vote Vancouver want to buy church land for housing?
The party would introduce a right-of-first-refusal bylaw, which gives the city the first chance to buy qualifying faith-owned land before private developers when it comes up for sale. The land would be used for housing, childcare and community services. Faith groups that want to keep their land would get city help to redevelop it (Policy Priorities, page 11).
What does Vote Vancouver mean by affordable housing?
The party says new public housing would target no more than 30% of household income, so that housing costs are affordable for the people who live there (Policy Priorities, page 10).
What is Vote Vancouver's position on supportive housing?
Vote Vancouver would reverse what it calls the ban on building new supportive housing. It says the ban stops the city from replacing SROs with safe and affordable options, and that Rebecca Bligh has already called for it to be reversed (Policy Priorities, page 12).
Can Vancouver City Council deliver Vote Vancouver's housing plan alone?
Council controls zoning, permits and city-owned land, and it makes rental bylaws, so it can act on the land, planning and maintenance steps. The party relies on non-profits to run the buildings and on other governments for funding, and the health supports it wants in supportive housing are provincial services (Policy Priorities, pages 10 to 12).
Sources
Every commitment on this page comes from the party's own material, marked SAYS SO ITSELF. It proves what the party says it would do. Who holds each power is our own addition, from the sources listed after it.
- Vote Vancouver Policy Priorities SAYS SO ITSELFVote Vancouver · pages 9 to 12 · checked