BC Affordable Housing: two apartments purchased

With the purchase of two older apartment buildings in North Vancouver and Squamish, the province says it has now taken 1,500 rental apartments off the private market and placed them in the hands of non-profit organizations.

Premier David Eby made the announcement in front of Ocean View Apartments, a 1967-built, three-storey, elevator-less building in North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood that was acquired by the Hiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Housing Society, with capital provided in part by BC’s Rental Protection Fund.

In 2023, the Eby administration announced the launch of a $500 million program aimed at buying up older rental properties – those with the cheapest rents – and extending their lifespans, rather than converting them into much more expensive condos or market-rate rental properties.

“That’s more than 2,500 British Columbians who have seen their home put up for sale and then experienced the relief of knowing they and their neighbours are protected for the long term,” Eby said. “No one in this province should have to live in fear of losing their home or experiencing a dramatic rent increase that they cannot afford.”

Tenants in the buildings now pay rents that are about 50 percent below market rents for the area – less than $1,300 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,600 for a two-bedroom apartment in the North Vancouver property.

Two of the building’s youngest tenants, aged about three and five, watched the speeches by politicians and dignitaries at the announcement from their upper-floor balcony.

Steve Frazer, a longtime resident of Ocean View, said the relief was palpable when tenants received a letter from Hiy̓ám̓ confirming that the nonprofit would not evict or rehabilitate them.

“There are a lot of families here and I’m sure they are all very happy to have some protection,” he said.

The purchase prices for the properties in North Vancouver and Squamish were approximately $13 million and $7 million, respectively.

Typically, the rental protection fund provides between 40 and 60 percent of the money needed for the purchase, with the rest coming from the nonprofits’ equity or loans, says Katie Maslechko, CEO of the rental protection fund. The contracts are structured so that the rents can cover the nonprofits’ mortgage payments and expenses, while also leaving enough money left over to build capital reserves.

According to Maslechko, all buildings have been carefully inspected for defects so that the nonprofits know exactly how much maintenance and modernization is needed to remain profitable and ensure that the projects are profitable.

The purchase of Ocean View comes with a grant of nearly $800,000 to upgrade the building’s plumbing, heating and windows, and the Squamish apartment will receive nearly $1 million to extend its lifespan.

BC Rental Protection Fund now a major player

Maslechko said they have exceeded the rental protection fund’s targets. The goal of using $500 million in seed capital from the province to bring 2,000 rental units into the nonprofit sector is already three-quarters achieved, and about half of the capital is still in the bank.

More than half of BC’s multifamily real estate transactions in 2024 were purchases facilitated by the Rental Protection Fund, Maslechko said.

“This makes the municipal housing sector the largest single buyer of multifamily housing in the province, and that’s no small change. It’s a way to address inequalities and really address the housing crisis from every angle,” she said. “The landlord-tenant relationship shifts from purely transactional to transformational when everyone moves into local and community ownership.”

TlatlaKwot Christine Baker, chair of Hiy̓ám̓ Housing, said purchases like the ones announced Thursday are necessary for the company to meet its goal of creating a home for every Squamish Nation citizen — about 2,200 of whom do not live on the nation’s soil.

“We want to provide housing for every member of this generation, so this is going to be quite a task,” she said. “The rent protection funds are part of the plan to create much-needed, equitable and affordable housing for people and to remove the barriers to helping our people get home.”

Jacob Isaac, chair of the North Shore Community Resource Society’s Community Housing Action Committee, said using public funds to purchase older homes may not be the most efficient way to create affordable housing, but the committee firmly believes it is necessary nonetheless.

“When you look at the current state of the housing market across British Columbia, and particularly on the North Shore, it is clear that some sort of intervention is needed to end three decades of public disinvestment,” he said.

In addition, the province still has a lot of work to do to address the affordable housing crisis, he added.

“It must do more to create new affordable rental housing, remove barriers to the formation of cooperatives and land trusts, strengthen tenant protections and then provide more housing for those at risk of homelessness,” he said.