Housing Policy, Finding Rental Housing in Vancouver

Demand for rental housing: The demand for rental housing continues to be strong in Vancouver. Over the next 10 years, projections indicate that an additional 1,000 to 1,500 new rental units would be needed every year to meet demand.

Majority of households rent: Over half of Vancouver households (52%) rent - there are 131,500 renter households in the city. Vancouver provides almost half (46%) of the rental housing in the region and over one quarter (27%) of the rental housing in the Province.

Building Diverse communities: Rental housing enables lower income households to live in the city, providing affordable housing to workers essential to Vancouver’s economy. It also provides housing to people at different stages in their lifecycle (e.g. from young people and students first gaining their independence, to families with young children.) Rental housing provides accommodation for new Canadians and for those who have moved from other parts of Canada.

Low vacancy rates and high rent levels: Vancouver has low vacancy rates and high rent levels. The city usually has the lowest vacancy rate in the region -- less than 1% for the last four years. In 2009, the vacancy rate was at 1.2%. A balanced market would have a vacancy rate no lower than 2% and preferably around 3%. Rent levels continue to increase above the rate of inflation. As of October 2010, the average rent for a one-bedroom unit was $1,013.

Little development of purpose-built stock: Recent data from CMHC indicates only 190 market rental apartment completions for Vancouver in 2009.

Existing Rental Housing Initiatives

The City has taken a number of steps to encourage a healthy private rental housing market. Some of these initiatives include:

Short Term Incentives for Rental Housing (STIR): Introduced in 2009, the 2.5 year program responds to the market rental shortage by providing incentives for the development of new market housing, waiving of development cost levies on rental units, parking requirement reductions, discretion on unit size, increased density and expedited permit processing. As of mid November 2010, there were 13 applications under STIR for over 900 rental units. For more information, visit: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/stir/

Rate of Change Regulations: The requirements in the Zoning and Development By-law are intended to maintain rental housing by requiring one-for-one replacement of demolished rental units in redevelopment projects involving six or more dwelling units.

Laneway housing: In 2009 laneway houses were introduced as a new form of rental and family housing in single-family areas in Vancouver. As of the end of January 2011, 214 laneway houses have been approved, 47 of which have been built.

Secondary suites in single-family areas: Secondary suites supplement the city’s purpose-built rental housing stock and provide accommodation to low and modest income renters. They are now permitted in all single-family and multi-family areas in the city. In 2009, zoning changes were approved to enable full-size basements and more livable basements suites in all single-family areas.

Secondary suites within apartments or ‘lock-off suites’: In 2009, zoning changes were approved to enable secondary suites within apartments in major commercial areas, the Downtown, and Southeast False Creek.

What is Vancouver’s Rental Housing Strategy?

The Rental Housing Strategy will recommend policies and tools to encourage the preservation, replacement, and expansion of the city’s rental housing stock.

In November, 2008 Council approved a process in which the Rental Housing Strategy would be developed in four phases. Phase 1 involved consultant studies on various aspects of Vancouver’s housing market. The other phases were to involve a final consultant report synthesizing the specialized studies, the preparation of a draft strategy by City staff, a public involvement process to discuss the strategy, with a final staff report with recommendations and specific actions for the City and other levels of government.

In February 2010, Council directed staff to develop an updated plan to end street homelessness in Vancouver by 2015. The Rental Housing Strategy has now been combined with this work to create a comprehensive Housing and Homelessness Strategy.

The Consulting Studies

PHASE I CONSULTANT REPORTS
Study 1	Rental Housing Demand and Existing Supply (PDF, 1.41MB)
Study 2A	Purpose-Built Rental Housing - Inventory and Risk Analysis (PDF, 2.91MB)
Study 2B	Purpose-Built Rental Housing - Building Condition and Major Repair Requirements (PDF, 6.08MB)
Study 2C	Purpose-Built Rental Housing - Investment Climate for Existing Stock (PDF, 1.41MB)
Study 2D	Purpose-Built Rental Housing – Economics of New Supply (PDF, 1.18MB)
Study 3	The Role of Rented Condo Stock (PDF, 1.60MB)
Study 4	Secondary Suites (PDF, 2.43MB)

PHASE II REPORT
Synthesis Report Final (PDF, 1.68MB)

For more information about the Rental Housing Strategy, visit the links on this page or contact Edna Cho at edna.cho@vancouver.ca.
For more information, please refer to the approved Council report: Rental Housing Strategy: Process and Consultancies (PDF, 445KB)

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Questions or Comments? E-mail: housing.centre@vancouver.ca