Housing is a critical issue facing the City of Vancouver and is a major campaign issue in the race to fill the seat on City Council vacated by Geoff Meggs. Abundant Housing Vancouver sent a questionnaire to all candidates inquiring about their policies to address the housing shortage. We wish to thank all the candidates who responded. We have now received responses from all major candidates.

Responses we have received are posted in full below:

Jump to Contents:

Hector Bremner (NPA)
Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver)
Mary Jean Dunsdon (Sensible Vancouver)
Pete Fry (Green)
Judy Graves (OneCity)
Gary Lee
Damian Murphy
Jean Swanson

Hector Bremner (NPA)

I already have called for the elimination of piecemeal zoning and the exclusionary practice of limiting property owners rights to better utilize their land. We are in a major supply crisis and we cannot solve the problem by with the incremental half-measures the current leadership is offering. Our missing-middle approach includes allowing duplexes, row-houses, town-homes and apartment buildings of various sizes throughout the city. However, the zoning is not the only reason why apartments are not built – heavy upfront development fees, parking minimums and incredibly long delays make the economics not viable. For example, the current Grandview-Woodlands plan contemplates as much as $60,000 in fees upfront on each unit built accord to the UDI. Therefore, we need to look at ways to at ways to not only give clarity on zoning, but expedite the approval process and reduce the barriers to building. This will be one of my main focuses.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

I have brought forward 5 principles which I will use to significantly increase supply of housing in Vancouver.

Bring an end to the piecemeal, building-by-building, lot-by-lot and project-by-project rezoning. This will be replaced with zoning changes over larger zoning areas within the city that will allow flexibility to achieve greater residential density and diversity. This new approach to zoning will be informed by looking at the current composition of the dwelling stock along with residential density targets and jobs in different areas of the City. This will give residents price and market certainty, the ability to see the long-term vision for their city.
Move to utilize 99 year leases on City owned land and partner with homebuilders and service providers to leverage the development potential of City owned lands to add both small and large scale social and market housing.
Move to work to streamline the building approval process, to speed construction of new homes and move housing units to market faster. This will include the ability to prioritize social and family housing. This includes a one-window approach to expedite social and affordable housing permits and building.
Move to consult with citizens in a collaborative process on these planning and zoning changes, bringing certainty for residents and good ideas and concerns into the public discussion instead of maintaining its current combative posture.
The city will be a leader regionally in setting and achieving drastically scaled up 10 and 25 year targets for housing supply, housing density, and housing diversity, from rental and family units to affordable and social housing. The city will also collaborate with provincial and federal governments

By allowing the type of housing we need, in the volume we need it, at the speed we need it, we will get to a healthy and balanced market again. The current situation is as untenable as it was predictable. We have been failed by the current status quo, and our communities, businesses and schools are suffering because of it. The housing crisis is hurting everyone, and I am confident that our plan will push past the political noise and get to work on this critical issue.

3. Currently, development of purpose-built rental buildings is concentrated along arterial roads, which have significantly higher levels of air pollution than non-arterials. Do you believe people who cannot afford detached houses have the same right to clean air and quiet streets as people who can?

I think we need to add significant amounts of density throughout the entire city. The current net-zero housing approach, whereby we knock down $3 Million detached homes and build $7 Million ones, makes no sense for a rapidly growing city like Vancouver. But yet, that has been the current leadership’s priority. While densifying along major roads is a common place to start, , it’s not acceptable as single solution while we are trying to address a severe supply crisis. By targeting a finite area for densification, speculation has been fueled, driving up land cost as evidenced by the“$11 Million Home” story that went national recently. This has also contributed to the net-zero effect, as what multi-residential is built is still too low in volume and high in price for the majority. By adding more square kilometers to where we allow density, and not just divide down square feet, we will bend down the cost curve, increase availability and develop more resilient communities.

4. Currently, it can take several years for the City of Vancouver to approve new construction, including purpose built rentals. What are your views on how we can more quickly approve and build needed rental housing?

Two years to get a permit is the current standard and that is shameful. As noted earlier, our plan contemplates taking immediate action on speeding up approvals. I recently talked about this in a video which has now been viewed over 100,000 times:https://www.facebook.com/HectorForVancouver/ . There are many ways to address this, and it’s clear our neighbours can get it right. We need to take any and all actions to get construction moving in Vancouver – we can afford it, it’s just not been a priority.

5. Northwest Point Grey has the largest minimum lot sizes in the city. These estate-sized lots exclude all but the wealthiest, while granting them some of the lowest property taxes on a per square meter basis. Do you support denser development on smaller lots and increasing property taxes on these estates?

I’ve toured this areas with your group and I think absolutely no one can see that and not be convinced that we can find ways to offer more options for housing in this area. While raising taxes on the property is one way to potentially draw some sort of value out of them, and certainly makes for some good ol’ “us vs. them” politics; but without working to address the core zoning issue you aren’t really solving anything (As noted before, we can leverage the large holdings of public land and private capital to build massive amounts of housing, like other jurisdictions do successfully…revenue isn’t really that much of a problem.) That said, my approach will be to allow more flexibility in the area through zoning and offering incentives across the entire city to build the types of housing we really need, including this one. When we take an open and collaborative approach, we can solve the crisis, but we cannot do this divided.

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

Yes, I think parking in certain areas could be made optional. I personally live in large high-density building with no parking that was developed in the 1990’s, it’s not an issue. Additionally, at a capital cost of ~$150,000 per stall, this could really help bend down costs on the housing itself. The bottom line is, we should be much more flexible in our approach to building, we simply cannot afford to remain on our current track any longer.

7.Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

I support any housing policy that puts the greater good of Vancouver first and any policy that brings the type of supply, in the amounts and at the speed working-class people can afford. I also strongly support the housing-first model and the complete elimination of barriers to housing for those living on our streets, it is absolutely shameful to see what is happening to vulnerable people in our communities, which are so prosperous.

We are growing, diverse and welcoming city – let’s act like it. Politics and pointing fingers isn’t getting us anywhere – it’s clear that with public school enrollment dropping because families are being pushed out, a basement suite going from $700/mo to $1500/mo in a couple years and homelessness increasing 30% in the same timeframe that we not only need change, we need action.
I’ll be working hard to hold leadership to account, bring solutions forward and get to work immediately in addressing the real issue in Vancouver – the supply crisis. Together, as a community that cares, we can fix this.

Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver)

I support increasing rental housing options in all neighbourhoods of Vancouver, but apartment buildings are just one building form to achieve that. In many neighbourhoods, existing affordable rental stock is in single-family homes which have been converted into multiple rental suites and we need to make sure we are protecting those where possible. One of the proposals I've put forward in this campaign is to create a new “Vancouver Special” for 2017 that would substantially increase the number of units that can go on a single-family lot, which would be prioritized for rental. A large up-zoning will not necessarily deliver the results we want unless there are significant demand-side measures and tools in place to recapture the land lift of any major zoning changes.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

The first thing we need to do is make sure the Empty Homes Tax is set up to be as effective as possible. I support providing additional resources to staff to ensure the audit and enforcement process is very aggressive. Ultimately, homes need to be first and foremost for housing, and the way to reduce empty homes is to disincentivize using them as speculative Investments. That's one of the reasons why we need a speculation tax from the provincial government.

I have also put forward a policy proposal that the first $500,000 from the Empty Homes Tax will be directed to the Vancouver Rent Bank, which is just one of the tools we’re using to help prevent evictions and homelessness.

I support the City's proposed regulations that require home-sharing platforms to post a license number on online listings so that enforcement is streamlined and can be much stronger. I think the City's approach to allowing primary residences for home-sharing is appropriate because it aligns with the Empty Homes Tax. I don't support home-sharing in homes that are not somebody's primary residence because then they are just treating housing as a commodity. Again, one of the best ways to strengthen the City's enforcement mechanisms is for the Province to raise the fine limit for violations. This will be one of the key things I will advocate for to the provincial government.

I support the city's efforts to use city-owned land to develop low and modest income rental housing, and want to see that expanded on more sites across the city. The Province could also enable more rental supply by providing the city with the legal ability to zone exclusively for rental housing, which would help reduce land speculation caused by the possibility of condo development. I am also a strong supporter of the city's Rental 100 program that provides incentives to make it more economically feasible to build rental housing instead of condos. This is a critical source of new housing supply and I will continue to champion the program as well as supporting new efforts to require a portion of units to be locked in at affordable rents. The city has already started doing this in the Oakridge area and I'd like to see it expanded citywide.

We also need the federal and provincial governments to introduce more demand side measures to help stop the runaway price increases in the housing market. Because the cost of ownership continues to surge, more people in higher income bands are stuck in the rental housing market rather than making first-time purchases. This is compounding our lack of rental housing supply

I support a much greater expansion of rental housing off of arterial roads into non-arterial areas. City efforts such as the Cambie corridor phase 3 plan have done exactly that by expanding rental options outwards from a major arterial. I'd like to see that continued.

One of the fastest ways to speed up the time it takes to produce rental housing is to pre-zone large areas of the city for rental housing so that they do not need to go through rezoning. The city did this recently in the West End community plan and it has been effective at getting new rental projects going quickly.

I also support increasing staff resources in the permitting department at the city so that we can reduce processing times for new construction.

I do support denser development on smaller lots and I also support a progressive property tax that allows the city to enact a higher rate on more expensive properties. Mayor Robertson called on the province to give the city this tool more than two years ago and I'm hopeful that with a new provincial government they will respond to this request.

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

Yes I do. With Phase 1 of the Mayor's 10 Year Transit Plan securing investment and investment for the Phase 2 component of the plan close to being secured, we are about to see a massive increase in public transit options throughout the city and region. Parking requirements, particularly near transit stations simply add to the cost of new development and I think we have a real opportunity to reduce them in new projects. People are shifting in Vancouver increasingly towards transit, biking, and walking — our planning decisions need to continue to reflect that.

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

The Empty Homes Tax is an important policy to address housing affordability and speculation in Vancouver. I support it and I support any additional investments needed to boost and strengthen the audit and enforcement process of the Empty Homes Tax. I will champion the first $500,000 of revenue from the Empty Homes Tax go towards the Vancouver Rent Bank to help prevent evictions and homelessness.

The city is limited in terms of the taxes it can levy on its own. I support Mayor Robertson's call for a progressive property tax that would charge a higher rate on more expensive properties. I also support the speculation tax proposed by UBC and SFU academics that ensures that people who live and pay taxes in Vancouver and own property pay a lower tax rate than those who do not. These policies require provincial legislation.

A new provincial government and the federal government's work to create a National Housing Strategy are big opportunities to get desperately needed changes for renters. I support the City of Vancouver's submission to the National Housing Strategy which says that housing should be considered a right. The federal government also needs to make sure that they get back into the business of creating and funding social housing and co-ops. The elimination of this funding over many decades has put thousands of existing units at risk and has stifled the creation of new co-operative housing.

There are many changes urgently needed from the provincial government to support renters. The Residential Tenancy Branch needs many more resources to make sure they can handle the volume of complaints, provide better services to tenants, and, in particular, improve support for people who do not speak English or whose schedules make it difficult to access services that are only provided between 9AM and 5PM on weekdays. The new BC government needs to end the loopholes for fixed term leases as well as the loopholes that exist for renovictions. Fines for landlords who are caught deliberately breaking the Residential Tenancy Act also need to be much higher and should be mandatory.

Mary Jean Dunsdon (Sensible Vancouver)

I am all for apartment buildings in residential area. Apartment dwellers are residents too.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

Enforced AirBnB controls. Support the new Vancouver's Tenants Union. Push to enforce empty home tax. Create temporary homes for the most needy until they can transition. Lobby the Provincial government to fund more social/co-op housing.

100% ( I rent right on 1st Ave by the way. I have to clean the black soot off my door every week. We are mostly a back alley culture but that is where all the garbage and food scraps are kept so yeah. You have my ear. )

Prioritize with rental housing, and apartment housing approval. De prioritize any luxury building permits.

100%

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

I am all for reducing unnecessary car travel of any kind. I want to see free transit and denser populations near transit facilities.

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

Housing First Initiatives. Even if they are temporary modular homes. We must shelter people before we can properly treat them for mental health and addiction.

Pete Fry (Green)

I support the creation of a city wide plan that would get us to a goal of creating multi unit residential including purpose-built rental in more of the city’s residentially zoned areas.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

Amending the Secondary Suite bylaw to allow easier legalization of suites; changing the definition of "affordable" so that it is fixed to local average incomes; more robust regulation around short term rentals in order to reduce their impact on the rental market; call for a one year moratorium on the demolition of purpose built rental housing (until we can develop an affordable suite replacement plan); speeding up permit approvals; a Renter’s Office at the City of Vancouver to help resource tenants and link building permit approvals to renovictions and to strengthen the Tenant Relocation and Protection Guideline; initiating a city wide plan to move toward updating SFH zones to accommodate more new "missing middle" housing stock.

Yes, in fact there are a growing number of class action suits in North America and Europe specifically regarding health impacts resulting from concentrating social housing along arterials. So not only is it bad policy from a livability and public health perspective, its potentially putting our city at legal risk.

Years of bad management have cost us senior staff, and current staffing practices see many city staff hired on short term contracts. According the Housing Approvals Study by the GVBHA, Vancouver is still worst for permit time in the entire GVRD. If we want to get serious about improving out 0.6% vacancy rate - we need to speed up approval times and that means we need to better resource staff. Additional costs would be offset by delivery of new housing and overall benefits to our beleaguered housing-stressed population.

Conditionally, I support the idea of denser development on smaller lots (city jurisdiction) and increasing property taxes on estates (not actually city jurisduction). I think we need to have a conversation with the provincial government about property and land value tax reform. All Vancouver can do is apply a mil rate to a provincially assessed value based on provincially assigned class. There is only one class for "residential" — there is no mansion or estate class. I do agree that is unfair and would advocate for appropriate change in Victoria.

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

Yes

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

Please see "A new fair deal for housing" in our platform green17.ca/council

Judy Graves (One City)

1. The City of Vancouver currently prohibits apartment buildings on more than 75% of the city’s residential land via zoning policy. Do you support entirely or significantly eliminating the ban on apartment buildings in residential areas of the City of Vancouver?

Yes. This is one of the biggest tools in the City’s toolbox to help renters and City Council needs to immediately get to work opening up every Vancouver neighbourhood to renters and transitioning our sprawl zoning into new more affordable and sustainable inclusive communities. This is why I have joined OneCity in calling for new affordable zoning to open up the entire city to purpose-built affordable rentals and co-ops.

Many of our older neighbourhoods, like Strathcona, seamlessly integrate single-family houses with small apartment buildings and other higher-density forms of housing. In my neighbourhood in the West End, Mole Hill is a good example of heritage single-family homes preserved in character and converted into mixes of very walkable senior’s housing and multi-family co-op housing. Mole Hill is surrounded by beautiful walk up apartment rentals that all integrate well with the character and needs of all members of the community. Together, this pocket of the West End defines an ideal human scale of density we should see shared all over Vancouver.

Creating Apartment buildings throughout our city will increase Vancouver’s livability, bring families back into once-vibrant neighbourhoods, and of course, if done right, will make Vancouver more affordable.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

Yes. A healthy vacancy rate is key to a healthy city. As City Councillor, I would work to build made-in-Vancouver sources of revenue to jumpstart the building of over 10,000 city-owned rental homes and co-ops, which would be rented at 30% of household income. I would do so, by working to implement a Luxury Housing Surtax that would generate between $456 million and $585 million to be earmarked to a local housing fund.

The building of new affordable rentals and co-ops will also require compatible zoning to open up Vancouver neighbourhoods guarded by anti-renter exclusionary zoning.

As City Councillor, my highest priority would be to help people get housing - after 30 years in Tenant Advocacy for the City of Vancouver, I can safely say that it is my life’s work.

Absolutely. Shouldn’t it be more important to place denser buildings, where more people live, on quieter streets? Also, most of the people I know with young children can only afford to live in apartment buildings. Shouldn’t those children have safe streets to play near, and clean air to breathe?

If the City is the major builder of affordable rental housing, surely it can fast-track its own projects. Generally, I believe that rental - particularly affordable rental, and social housing - should be our city’s highest building priority and should take precedence over the many projects catering to the demands of international luxury buyers.

As a Councillor, I would work to ensure the City’s approval process for genuinely affordable purpose built rental is designed to encourage and incentivize new builds rather than privileging the concerns of loud and powerful wealthy homeowners. The voices and needs of seniors, working families, migrant communities and other renter constituencies are too often marginalized in the City’s current “consultative” and approval processes.

Yes. One of the policies I am proposing is a Luxury Home Surtax, which would add an extra 1.5% property tax to the 1% most expensive homes in Vancouver, and an extra 0.5% to the 5% most expensive homes. I imagine most of the homes in Northwest Point Grey would qualify!

It horrifies me that we are protecting these multimillion-dollar estates, while only a few kilometers away, UBC students are struggling to find adequate housing. Many are travelling long distances every day to attend school. Wouldn’t it make sense to build homes in Northwest Point Grey for students instead of the wealthiest people on the planet?

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

Yes. Eliminating parking requirements, or drastically reducing parking requirements, would make it cheaper to build near frequent transit. It would also make the housing that is built be truly for the low and middle-income people who need to be near transit, rather than people who live near transit and can also own a car.

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

Yes. I would advocate with the provincial and federal governments to implement a Flipping Levy on home sales to disincentivize the commodification of homes while also cooling the international luxury demand that has been driving housing prices through the roof. The OneCity plan calls for a 50% tax on the speculative profit made on sales within 1 year of purchase and a 35% tax on the speculative profit made in year 2-¬3.

The revenue collected from the the Flipping Levy and the Luxury Home Surtax can bring urgent relief to the rising rates of homelessness in Vancouver. The Luxury Surtax alone could build enough modular housing in a few months to ensure every single person living on the street and in unstable housing is immediately housed. Ending homelessness shouldn’t be an aspirational platitude because there are fixable solutions at our fingertips that simply require a Council with enough courage to ask everyone in Vancouver to contribute their fair share.

By building and supporting new affordable rentals across Vancouver for lower and middle income renters, our City can relieve the dangerously low vacancy rate and downward pressures forcing renters into basement suites and pushing vulnerable community members onto the streets.

Finally, renter protections are a necessary part of defending the tenants of this city from the housing squeeze. I have called for rents to be tied to units instead of to tenants to eliminate landlords giving huge rent hikes during tenant transitions. As a pet owner and someone who has rented most of my life, I understand the barriers for renters with pets. City Council has not defended pet owning renters and I will fight hard to ensure they have an advocate in City Hall.

For more details on OneCity’s affordable housing plan please visit our website: www.onecityvancouver.ca/affordable_housing

Gary Lee (Independent)

Yes. I support the rezoning of Vancouver to increase density and provide more housing for the people in this city who need here. Here are two points from my platform that I believe will help address this issue
Rezone single family housing to allow duplex/triplex/fourplex adding more density to neighbourhoods. Currently large 'single family homes' can consist of laneway house + basement suite = 1 landlord + tenants. Adding a duplex/triplex in it's place houses the same number of families and allows for ownership over tenancy.

Change zoning to require more family friendly units in high density housing. Currently only 35% of new buildings are required to be 2 or 3 bedroom with the majority being 1 bed/studio.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

Yes. I will commit to supporting policies that will increase available rental units in Vancouver in order to increase the vacancy rate to above 3%. I would work to increase available rental units through the policies I have outlined above as well as supporting policies that would incentivize the construction of high density rental only buildings.

Vancouver is an urban area is fortunate to have its air quality on average improving over time. While I do believe that everyone has a right to clean air I think that while there is such a lack of rental units placing them on main roads makes them more accessible to those that need them. I think that since renters are much more likely users of transit it is important to build these units where transit is most accessible. Once the city has reached a healthy vacancy rate then I believe rental units should and will be build in lower density and quieter neighborhoods. Jericho lands are an excellent opportunity to include multi-family units in a more suburban setting within City of Vancouver limits

I agree that the development approval process needs to streamlined. To speed up building approvals I propose to:
Review and scale back the Green Building requirements. Continuing to move forward to create green buildings is noble however when housing affordability is at crisis level, it's time to reevaluate the depth and scope of the requirements.

Move away from spot rezonings and move towards neighbourhood planning. Vancouver is the only municipality in Metro Vancouver without a city-wide plan. The city enjoys the exemption through its Vancouver charter from the province, (as opposed to other municipalities governed under the Local Government Act) which gives it greater leeway than other municipalities to side-step making such a plan. The result is spot rezonings that often come with a high neighbourhood pushback (NIMBYs) and a more lengthy development timeline. A short term solution is to rezone larger areas of land to allow for multiple projects to proceed. A long term solution would to integrate the existing planning work that has been done into a comprehensive Official Community Plan (OCP).

As my tenure on council would only be guaranteed for one year should I win I would also prioritize accelerating approvals of rental buildings

Yes. As per my answer to question one I absolutely support the rezoning of much of the city. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and some neighborhoods populations are actually declining. This is a sign that they're zoning is out of touch with what this city actually requires.

I am also an advocate of linking income tax to property tax to ensure that those who can afford to buy and live in estates are paying their fair share in the infrastructure costs that is required to maintain them and are not just using them as a haven to park capital. This tax is out of the scope of the city's powers however I would advocate to the upper levels of the government to try and make it a reality.

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

As per Metro Vancouver’s 2012 multi-family parking report, parking spots can add $20,000-45,000 per unit. In response to transportation trends (car sharing, hopefully soon ride sharing too!) and increased transit infrastructure it makes sense to reduce parking requirements in developments located near transit hubs. I don’t believe in completely eliminating parking entirely because individual life circumstances may require vehicles (disability, distant job, job with hours not coinciding with transit, job that requires work vehicle, family needs, etc)

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

I would advocate for policies across all levels of government to curb property speculation that results in housing being a commodity. In 2016, just the single-family property owners alone earn more with housing appreciation than the entire population of the City of Vancouver did by actually working.

Damian Murphy (Independent)

1. The City of Vancouver currently prohibits apartment buildings on more than 75% of the city’s residential land via zoning policy. Do you support entirely or significantly eliminating the ban on apartment buildings in residential areas of the City of Vancouver?

Yes I do.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

Policies that encourage development of new rental units (like the rezoning mentioned above) or acquisition by VAHA of existing rental units (which can then be subject to rent control).
Allowance for legal secondary and tertiary suites.
Policies that promote infill development and use of existing property to create new forms of housing like laneway houses or other forms that will increase density.
Enforcement of the Short-Term Rental by-law.
Enforcement of and Amendments to the Single Room Accommodation by-law.

3. Currently, development of purpose-built rental buildings is concentrated along arterial roads, which

have significantly higher levels of air pollution than non-arterials. Do you believe people who cannot
afford detached houses have the same right to clean air and quiet streets as people who can?

Of course. Current planning promotes density along these arterials which makes sense to a degree for taller buildings. No reason why similar lower height density can’t be stretched along neighbourhood properties on side roads.

4. Currently, it can take several years for the City of Vancouver to approve new construction, including
purpose built rentals. What are your views on how we can more quickly approve and build needed
rental housing?

Streamline the process for affordable rentals ahead of market developments. Incentivize developers to build rentals. Encourage smaller builders to invest in rentals. Northwest Point Grey has the largest minimum lot sizes in the city. These estate-sized lots exclude all but the wealthiest, while granting them some of the lowest property taxes on a per square meter basis. Do you support denser development on smaller lots and increasing property taxes on these estates? I support density on smaller lots. I see it all the time. On typical sfh property I’ve seen construction of low rise townhouses and stratas up to nine units where one family used to live. There are creative architectural solutions to developing on smaller parcels of land to achieve density. I think increasing taxes at a municipal level is unimaginative.

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located
near frequent transit?

Absolutely.

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

There are many great ideas out there. I support all policies that increase rental supply across the housing continuum and make home ownership a possibility (i.e. rent to own). My focus will always be on the first half of the continuum but I pledge to keep an open mind and listen to all innovative and creative solutions. We are not constricted by geographic limitations but rather just a willingness to change from the single family home ownership model.

Jean Swanson (Independent)

It is a myth that if we just removed zoning regulations, corporate developers would build affordable housing, or even more housing. Private developers aim to make profit. They prefer to build a small amount of extremely profitable luxury housing than a large amount of affordable housing, which would reduce prices across the city. The market has failed and it’s time that we did things differently, learning from cities like Vienna. What we need is for the City to tax the rich, and for the City’s housing authority to acquire more land and build coops, social housing, and city-owned rental.
Some of this new social and public housing should be built in what are currently wealthy residential zones that were historically zoned to exclude tenants, poor, and racialized residents. The key point is that we need to have much greater supply of truly affordable, non-market housing in all parts of the city. Everyone has the right to the city; if we leave supply to the market, poor, working class and many middle-income residents will continue to be displaced and priced out of Vancouver. For decades, we have been told that affordable housing would trickle down from new developments. But in Vancouver we have seen the failure of this approach.

2. Will you commit to enacting policies to increase the rental vacancy rate in Vancouver to at least 3%? If so, which policies would you enact?

Yes. I will continue to stand with communities fighting gentrification by stopping the demolition of purpose-built rental buildings, which are often replaced by luxury condos. I’ll also keep pushing for a Mansion Tax so we can build lots of social and co-op housing on publicly-owned land.

Yes. Many co-ops and purpose-built rental buildings are away from arterials. The Mansion Tax will fund construction of co-ops and city-owned affordable rental across the city. My campaign is also committed to working towards free transit for all, beginning with $5/month bus passes for low-income residents, so that we can reduce pollution and congestion.

Some rules are good because they give the public a chance to have input (even if it is mostly ignored by this council). Even getting rid of all approval processes wouldn’t make buildings cheap enough for low income people. So this is not the root cause of the housing crisis in my view, although some rules could be streamlined for rental, co-ops, and social housing. The negotiations between the city and private developers need to be more transparent, not less transparent.

Yes. We have introduced the idea of a Mansion Tax of an additional 1% of assessed value over $5 million and 2% on value over 10 Million.

6. Do you support reducing or eliminating parking requirements for new residential construction located near frequent transit?

Yes, especially to reduce the cost of co-ops, social housing, and city-owned housing that is actually affordable -- not to increase the profits of private developers.

7. Are there any other policies you support to address the housing crisis?

Bringing in a rent freeze. Using all city powers to prevent renovictions. Using section 23.8 of the Standards of Maintenance bylaw to have the city do repair work in buildings where the landlord refuses and bill the landlord. Using the Mansion Tax to fund modular housing to end homelessness, building social and co-op housing on publicly-owned land, and providing land and housing for the three host Indigenous Nations.

In general I would focus on non-market solutions to the housing crisis as it is the market that has caused the crisis. The more social and co-op housing we can get out of the market so it doesn’t increase in speculative value, the better able we’ll be to house everyone in quality, beautiful housing.

Do you like this post?

By-election Candidate Questionnaire

Hector Bremner (NPA)

Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver)

Mary Jean Dunsdon (Sensible Vancouver)

Pete Fry (Green)

Judy Graves (One City)

Gary Lee (Independent)

Damian Murphy (Independent)

Jean Swanson (Independent)