New program aims to protect affordable housing

The B.C. government is taking action to protect affordable housing stock across the province.

Premier David Eby announced the creation of a new $500-million Renter Protection Fund Thursday, Jan. 11.

This measure is intended to protect people in properties that could potentially be purchased by speculators, investors or real-estate investment trusts that can evict residents, flip the units and increase rents.

“This fund is going to preserve affordable housing for renters across B.C. for many years to come,” Eby told a news conference.

“It will provide one-time capital grants to non-profit housing organizations to purchase affordable rental buildings and co-ops that are listed for sale. This will protect renters living there now and safeguard that affordable housing for the long term.”

The fund will be overseen by an external group of not-for-profit partners, including the Aboriginal Housing Association, the B.C. Not-For-Profit Housing Association, and the Co-Operative Housing Federation of British Columbia.

The organizations will be tasked with reviewing any potential usage of the fund to ensure it does not lead to a bidding war between the private and public sector.

“It will be part of the structure of this fund that there are fixed grants per unit, that the business case has to make sense and that the building need to be self sustaining without ongoing funding. So there will be a limit on the amount that [the fund] will be able to pay, but there will be many opportunities across the province for this fund to be successful,” said Eby, adding protections will be in place to ensure the funds are not used to flip properties as the key goal is to protect tenants from drastic rate hikes.

The fund is expected to be financed by the end of March, allowing money to become available for non-profits to access before the end of the year.

“We know the housing needs are great, which is why we are expediting the creation of this fund so that this fund can facilitate the first acquisitions hopefully later this year,” B.C.’s Housing Minister, Ravi Kahlon said.

Eby stated the fund is expected to protect “thousands of affordable units” over the coming years.

“Preventing people from being evicted and seeing their former homes redeveloped into out-of-reach luxury condos or high end housing is one of the key purposes of this fund.”

Eby added a new report from B.C. Housing found purpose-built rental housing was up 10 per cent annually in 2022, as 14,546 new homes were registered in B.C. That is the highest yearly total on record since data collection began in 2002, and over seven times the number of purpose built rentals registered in 2012.

“Despite this increase, we can’t afford to lose rental housing,” stated Eby.

“We need to keep pace with population growth and we need to be adding new housing, not losing affordable housing.”