Kennedy Stewart: City’s goal isn’t just to preserve the number of co-ops, but to expand them
Credit to Author: Hardip Johal| Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 02:00:58 +0000
Co-operative housing began in the 1960s as an innovative way to give thousands of Vancouver households a safe, affordable place to call home. Yet by the 1990s it was all but abandoned by the federal government.
Today, co-ops are associated with multi-year waiting lists, aging infrastructure or just plain disbelief that they’re a real option for residents struggling with housing.
This needs to change. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis in Vancouver.
I’ve always been a believer in co-op housing. As a member of Parliament, I fought to ensure federal rent subsidies stayed in place and residents didn’t lose their homes. Now, as mayor, I believe we can once again make co-ops one of the solutions to our housing needs. But there are significant challenges.
Leases for the city land that early co-ops were built on are set to expire in the coming years. As these expiration dates draw closer, co-op residents are understandably becoming stressed about their tenancy.
As mayor, I want to acknowledge right off the bat that when co-op lease negotiations began two years ago, our approach didn’t address key co-op interests and added to this stress. I apologize for that.
Over the past year, staff went back to the drawing board to come up with a new approach that better balances the interests of both co-ops and the city.
Here’s where we’re at: First — and this has always been the case — we’re not selling off any city land.
Despite what some have recklessly speculated about in the media, the city-owned land that many co-ops are built upon is the best tool we have to expand non-market housing affordability. We not only need to hold on to it, but make sure even more people benefit from it.
The second principle is that there will be no displacement.
Even in cases where co-ops redevelop to expand the number of homes, all residents will have the option to stay. And in the few rare cases where co-ops elect to let their leases expire, staff will find new operators and work in partnership with residents to make sure they can continue to call their co-op home.
The third principle is that under this proposed framework, no current or future co-op residents will pay more than 30 per cent of their household income in rents.
This final principle is key. Right now, many lower-income residents living in unsubsidized units are paying far more than they should. While this may mean higher-income residents pay more rent in the future, many lower-income residents will see their rents go down. This is equitable and ensures the city uses this public asset in a way that helps the most people, something all residents in Vancouver expect.
Finally, I want to stress that our goal isn’t just to preserve the number of co-ops, but to expand them. As more people come to Vancouver to build their lives, we need solutions to our housing crisis. I believe co-ops are one of these solutions, but time is of the essence.
With the federal government moving ahead with the first comprehensive housing strategy since the 1990s, there is new hope for co-ops. There is $500 million available to help support low-income households in co-ops, funding I fought hard to access last summer but couldn’t because we didn’t have long-term leases in place.
I believe that this new approach will help get us there. That’s why I will be reaching out to the presidents of all 57 co-ops on city land to sit down with them face to face and hear their hopes and concerns. Then together we can get down to work pushing for the federal funding they deserve.
This won’t be easy, but if we get it right we could build up to 2,000 new co-ops homes in partnership with senior governments and the co-op housing sector. That’s 2,000 homes that will help a new generation of Vancouverites benefit from the co-op housing model. Imagine how life changing that could be.
Kennedy Stewart is mayor of Vancouver.
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