 Print
City of Vancouver Conducts Comprehensive Study on Housing Vacancy
3-22-2016
The major issue I hear about on a regular basis is housing affordability in the City of Vancouver. I empathize with the anxieties of many families and young people who wish to contribute to the growth and diversity of the City, but who can’t afford to live here. Because of the concerns I’ve heard about empty homes impacting housing affordability and neighbourhood vibrancy, we commissioned a comprehensive study on unoccupied homes, which was reported to Council last week.
The study showed that, overall, there has been no change in the percentage of empty homes since 2002. However, even though the rate of empty homes has remained steady at 4.8%, Vancouver is still facing significant affordability challenges and I am concerned about the impact on the already limited supply of rental housing.
Looking at data from 225,000 homes, a total of 10,800 dwellings were empty for a year or more. Of these, 90% were condos. The percentage of empty single-family and duplex properties remains the same as 2002 at around 1%.
It’s unacceptable that so many homes are left empty at a time so many of our residents are struggling to find appropriate housing. Housing needs to be first and foremost for people to live in, not to be treated as a commodity.
This study is the first of its kind to find out how many homes are sitting unoccupied on a long term basis. The City worked with the consulting firm Ecotagious, to analyze anonymous BC Hydro data from 2002 to 2014. Their investigation of household energy use was reviewed by a panel of external industry experts to evaluate the methodology and findings. The study looked only at how many homes were being left empty, but not the cause of why some units are unoccupied.
Only by rigorously collecting data and information will we be able to cut through the misconceptions about our housing market – misconceptions that are sometimes based in rumour and anecdote – rather than hard research. The City is taking a leadership role in collecting data and convening discussions with the intent of learning more about why these homes are being left empty and what the potential solutions can be.
I wrote to the Premier last summer requesting the BC government give us tools to better track and discourage homes from staying empty for long periods of time. We are still looking forward to a response on this issue. The City has limited legal tools to enforce actions to discourage empty homes, so partnerships and support from the provincial government will be a critical component of the city’s next steps on this issue.
The City will continue to strategize with industry experts, academics and senior governments on how we can address empty homes in Vancouver. We will also
keep working to increase the overall purpose built rental housing stock as this form of dwelling is the most likely to be occupied.
Housing affordability is a keen concern for all of us in the City of Vancouver. It will take a concerted effort from all levels of government to ensure we can tackle this problem. While there is no single solution to housing affordability, the report that was submitted in council last week is one step towards understanding the multiple factors we will need to address.
I encourage you to read the full consultant report on empty homes here: http://council.vancouver.ca/20160308/documents/rr1EcotagiousReport.pdf
Footnotes:
|