Social Housing Levy Comes Up Short

On February 15th, Vancouver City Council voted in a condo development levy that will require developers to pay a $15,000 fee for each unit of social housing lost to redevelopment.

All of this comes as developers scramble to buy up land in advance of the 2010 Olympics.

These units of social housing typically exist within single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels, many of which are in the Downtown Eastside. The hotels, although by any estimation a substandard housing option (many are infested with bedbugs and offer one bathroom for up to a dozen residents, I’ve been told by former inhabitants), are the only thing shielding most residents from life on the streets.

In a Globe and Mail article from February 17th, the levy sounds like a positive development. But when you dig a little deeper, some problems become glaringly evident.

The levy falls under the Single Room Accommodation Bylaw, which, up until now, has required developers to pay $5,000 per unit (read: room) of social housing lost. This money is earmarked for a fund used to rebuild social housing elsewhere in the downtown core.

According to Kim Kerr, director of the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association (DERA) the levy, whether $5,000 or $15,000, is a drop in the bucket.

Kerr tells me it costs upwards of $100,000 to build one unit of social housing.

In San Francisco, a city where land is similarly precious, developers are charged $80,000 US for a room, says Kerr.

The Single Room Accommodation bylaw also stipulates that developers secure equivalent alternative housing for displaced residents.

This stipulation all too often falls by the wayside, argue Kerr and other Downtown Eastside activists.

In a recent CBC article, Linda Coady, vice president of sustainability for the Olympic organizing committee, claims the city is on track in building new social housing units.

“Since the bylaw was passed in 2003, the fee has generated $440,000 for the city’s replacement housing fund plus $60,000 in voluntary contributions,” Coady is quoted as saying.

The problem seems to be that the fund is sitting idle for some unknown reason.

In the last year, seventeen SRO hotels in the Downtown Eastside have been sold to developers.

While hundreds have been displaced, little has been tabled to deal with the increasing need for viable social housing.