Video: Kennedy Stewart on the affordability of rental vs. owning
In Vancouver, renting is far more affordable than owning, even at market rents.
Kennedy Stewart gets it. Video of Stewart at a July 2019 public hearing, explaining why he's voting to approve rezoning for a market rental project - 121 market rentals, affordable for household income around $80,000 for a one-bedroom ($2000/month), $100,000 for a two-bedroom ($2600/month). The alternative would be for the developer to build a handful of new duplexes:
Those half-duplexes would sell for about a million and a half, each. That means you'd need an income of about $335,000 a year, to afford them, plus the down payment of $300,000. I'm a renter, and as your mayor, I could not afford that. So the mayor of Vancouver could not afford the alternative to what's being proposed here. Which I think is kind of insane.
More on this particular project (3833 Fraser Street):
Rezoning application, including the staff report
Full video from July 9 and July 11 public hearings
Daily Hive: proposal (August 2018), opposition, approval