Could adding to existing co-ops ease Vancouver’s housing crisis?
A proposal coming to Vancouver city council this week is looking at building more affordable housing by expanding to co-ops.
As Vancouver renters continue to pay the highest prices in the country, Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung says co-ops could be a potential source of new supply.
“The really bright spot about co-op homes, unlike when you’re building market rental, for example, is that the affordability improves over time,” she told CTV News.
Low- and middle-income residents buy shares in the co-op but don’t have any equity or ownership stake in the property. However, they get to vote on policies like pets and parking priority, much like a strata, and can’t be evicted by owners looking to sell.
Kirby-Yung said there are about 7,000 units in Vancouver co-ops in Vancouver, with around 3,700 owned by the city.
She said many are on their last legs.
Groups representing co-ops said they want the city to look at fixing and expanding those properties.
On average, a co-op in Vancouver has around 56 units according to the Co-op Housing Federation of B.C.
"A lot of the sites we're looking at could easily triple the number of co-op homes on the land that's there,” said CEO Thom Armstrong.
Many of Vancouver’s co-ops were built decades ago with help from federal funding that has since dried up. The federal government stopped building co-ops in the early 1990s and wait lists have only grown for what is now an aging supply.
Armstrong said many were built with “low density”, meaning there could be room to fit more units onto existing co-op land.
He also told CTV news investing in co-ops makes sense long-term since they’re non-profits.
“A housing co-op doesn’t have to deliver a return to a shareholder, it just needs to provide housing to its members at cost,” Armstrong said.
“That means over time the cost of a home in an affordable housing co-op drops dramatically relative to the market.”
It's a sentiment echoed by Kirby-Yung.
“As the cost of building and the mortgages are paid down, that affordability improves so as you’re building those units today they become the most affordable homes of the future,” she said.
With older building's leases up for renewal, and no federal funding for co-ops, Kriby-Yung's motion asks the city to find partners to help support building thi s particular type of new housing.
The motion will come to council on Wednesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s two children in jury decision
Jurors resumed deliberations Saturday on whether a man should be sentenced to death after being convicted days earlier of the murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children in Idaho.
Pedestrian dies after being hit by train in Brockville, Ont.
Brockville Police says a pedestrian has died following a collision with a train that was heading to Toronto.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months
Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea level
On a tiny island off Panama's Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change. Generations of Gunas who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland’s solid ground.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
Lanny McDonald and a few old Flames take the Stanley Cup on a surprise visit to the man who saved his life
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
'It feels like freedom': Why some Albertans like going nude in nature
Few people can say they accidentally purchased a nude beach — but Shelley can. When she saw a piece of land she could fondly remember camping on was up for sale, she inquired about it and ended up purchasing it. She soon found that there were already inhabitants on it.
Trump election victory 'very unlikely,' but 'possible': former FBI director Comey
Former FBI director James Comey says while he believes former U.S. president Donald Trump "will be defeated" in the upcoming presidential election, he doesn’t think it’s a given.