THE City of Vancouver said on Tuesday it is seeking public input on new actions that will make it easier and faster to build rental housing across Vancouver.
As part of an update to the Secure Rental Policy, the City is aiming to streamline rental development by reducing project costs, shortening approval processes, and making it more financially feasible to build rental apartments.
The proposed actions are to:
- Speed up the approval process for six storey rental buildings in commercial zones
- Simplify the rezoning process for four to six storey rental buildings in areas close to local shopping and daily needs
The public is invited to share their feedback through the City’s:
- Online survey, and
- Virtual information session on June 3, 6-8 p.m.
More information is available on the Streamlining Rental Shape Your City page.
Key considerations for the above actions include:
- Building new rental housing close to shopping and transit, and reducing dependency on driving to help achieve the City’s carbon pollution reduction goals in the Climate Emergency Action Plan.
- Making it easier to build diverse and secure rental housing to create more complete, connected neighbourhoods across the city as part of the Planning Vancouver Together initiative to develop a long-term, strategic Vancouver Plan.
Once public engagement wraps up at the end of June, City staff will present some ‘quick start actions’ to Council in July as part of a broader Vancouver Plan report, and then prepare a Secure Rental Policy report for Council’s consideration in Fall 2021.
Background
As Vancouver grows, the City says it needs to ensure there are a variety of housing options to meet the diverse needs and range of household incomes of people who live and work here. Building more secure rental housing in all areas of the city is a critical component.
The Secure Rental Policy was approved in November 2019, following a 10-year review of the City’s Rental Incentive Programs.
This update to the Secure Rental Policy is the result of extensive public and stakeholder consultation over the last four years. This includes feedback through engagement on the Housing Vancouver Strategy and 3-Year Action Plan (2017), the Rental Incentive Program Review (2019), and the Secured Rental Policy implementation work for C-2 zones and low-density areas (2020).
