Vancouver

NorthReport wrote:

And that sisters and brothers is why Corrigan got the boot

Good riddance and well said ep13

The fact that the BCA still controls all but one seat on counsel seems to have slipped your attention. The right wing voters in the city backed the left leaning dissident to oust one of the best Mayors in the country. His adamant stance on not institutionalizing homeless shelters cost him some short sighted people who don't grasp that the only solution to our current crisis is massive investments in government built and subsidized housing. You can disagree with the approach but clearly the majority of the voters like things like these BCA programs currently in place. If you look across the Lower Mainland you will find they have some of the best programs of any municipality. But they are bums because they refused to try and solve a problem that only the federal and provincial governments have the ability to solve. 

City Lands Program for Non-Market Housing/City Land Leases

Burnaby leases land that it owns to non-profit societies and housing corporations seeking to build non-market housing. The City offers these leases at reduced or nominal rates, offsetting leasing costs through contributions from the Community Benefit Bonus Housing Fund. Current leases support 314 non-market units on nine properties.

The recently adopted City Lands Program for Non-Market Housing expands this practice. Through this program, the City proactively identifies City-owned properties that are suitable for non-market housing, and offers these sites to non-profit societies or government agencies at nominal lease rates through an open Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI) process.

Following its initial RFEOI process, Burnaby is partnering with two non-profit societies to build approximately 200 units at 3802 Hastings Street and 7898 Eighteenth Avenue.

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Adaptable Housing Policy

An adaptable housing unit has features that can be easily modified to accommodate the changing accessibility requirements of residents over time. Burnaby requires adaptable design in new multi-family residential developments that are approved through the Comprehensive Development (CD) rezoning process. For most developments, at least 20% of the single-level units must have adaptable design; for purpose-built seniors housing, this percentage increases to 100%. As an incentive, the Burnaby Zoning Bylaw provides a 1.85 m2 (approximately 20 sf) floor area exemption for every adaptable housing unit. View the policy »

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Burnaby advocates for greater assistance to tenants who must relocate due to redevelopment.

When redevelopment of a property with six or more units is proposed through the rezoning process, Burnaby requires the property owner to submit a Tenant Assistance Plan that exceeds the minimum requirements of the provincial Residential Tenancy Act. The Tenant Assistance Plan must provide at least four months’ notice and three months’ compensation to all affected tenants, as well as support in finding new accommodation and other assistance.

In addition, Burnaby leads municipal advocacy efforts to strengthen provincial tenant assistance provisions. These efforts are reflected in recent amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act.

 

Jean Swanson: Tenants need vacancy control to end renovictions

Do you know that there’s a new occupation in town? I don’t know exactly what it’s called.  Maybe an “eviction enabler”.

It’s a person who gets hired by a landlord to get tenants out of a building so landlords can put new tenants in, usually at much higher rents. They’re often brought in even before the landlord has any renovation permits. Once emptied, the building can be sold for more, since the new owners can set the rent at whatever they want. Often the landlord wants the building empty so they can renovate and charge higher rents or, simply, so they can charge higher rents without renos.

Rents in Vancouver have skyrocketed in the past few years. That has given landlords an incentive to remove long-term tenants who rent at lower than market rates. The eviction enablers are brought in to achieve exactly that. They do this by telling tenants that their building is going to be renovated so they have to move out.

One place this is happening is at 1875 Yew Street in Kitsilano, a well-maintained, older three-story building with lots of long-term tenants, including some pensioners. Rents are about $900 to $1,250/month. Their eviction enabler is named "Jose", from VS Rentals. His job is to try to get the tenants to agree to one of three options, none of which are good if you can’t afford rents in the current rental market where a one-bedroom apartment goes for an average of over $2,000 a month.

The options are: accept one month of free rent and get four months notice to leave; leave your apartment while renovations are done and return and pay the new (higher) market rent; or leave within 45 days with free moving (excluding boxes) and get one month free rent and $3,000....