Vancouver council to debate housing strategy 'reset' today

Vancouver City Council will begin debating a self-proclaimed "reset" of the city's housing strategy today that aims to tackle the problems with affordability and supply that have emerged in recent years.

On Tuesday morning city council will receive a report fromKathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, general manager of community services, outlining the emerging directions in the Housing Vancouver 2040 strategy.

It comes three months after the city fired its chief housing officer, Muktar Latif, with the explanation that "the City of Vancouver has made a change to how it implements affordable housing in Vancouver."

The emerging directions report, which can be found here, comes halfway through the city's2012-2021 Housing & Homelessness Strategy, and says "the housing challenges people in Vancouver are facing require that we reset our strategy."

Its five main takeways are:

• "Link Housing Affordability Targets to Incomes."
• "Create More of the Right Supply."
• "Complete Neighbourhoods with New Housing Forms."
• "Provide More City Land to Increase Affordable Housing."
• "Prioritize Affordable Housing Delivery."

Approximately 47,800 new housing units are required by 2026, according to analysis by the city.

Council is being asked to approve the report, allow a one-year "Rezoning, Development & Building Permit pilot to prioritize affordable housing projects", and let staff begin public consultations, in advance of a final report expected in July 2017.

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