Premier David Eby was in North Vancouver last week to celebrate a milestone for the province’s $500-million Rental Protection Fund – an independent body that provides capital to non-profit organizations and co-ops to help them buy older apartment buildings with the cheapest rents to prevent them from being redeveloped.
So far, about 1,500 relatively affordable rentals in older buildings have been taken out of the private market and transferred to non-profits. It is truly a different model for housing than we are used to seeing in B.C.
There are drawbacks. It does not produce any net new affordability and it only benefits people who already have relatively affordable homes. It puts the burden of aging assets, some of which are nearing the end of their useful lives and all of which will need expensive capital upgrades, into the hands of non-profits. And takes land in town centres that could be developed into denser housing out of the market.
But it can also be viewed as an ounce of prevention. Every time one of these old three-storey walk-ups gets demolished, it puts residents out into an absolutely brutal rental market with no hope of finding accommodation at prices they can afford. And we are not producing new affordable housing at nearly a fast enough rate to meet the current demand, let alone for those facing demoviction. And for the 2,500 people living in one of these units, it is surely a tremendous relief.
It’s too early to judge whether this program is a good use of our affordable housing dollars or not, but it is a novel approach. With the housing crisis stretching on, we need all the ideas we can get.
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Correction: This editorial has been amended to note that the Rental Protection Fund does not itself buy buildings but provides capital to help other non-profit organizations and co-ops purchase older apartments.
