A Burnaby councillor’s last-ditch effort to bring down rents at an “affordable” housing project where tenants will need an income of $85,000 to afford a two-bedroom apartment failed on Monday.
Coun. Colleen Jordan introduced a motion that would have seen city staff study the possibility of providing a subsidy to reduce rents at a 125-unit non-market building currently under construction on Sussex Avenue in the Metrotown neighbourhood.
The city has partnered to build the 14-storey apartment building with BC Housing and developer Thind Properties, which is also building a 47-storey tower on the adjacent lot with office space and 324 market condominiums.
The partnership was “a huge leap forward for us” when it was struck in 2016, Jordan said.
But now, more than three years later, with more housing projects announced and funded under the new provincial NDP government, she said the deal isn’t looking as sweet.
At a groundbreaking ceremony in April 2019, the province revealed the estimated rents for the coming apartments:
- Studio: $886/month
- One-bedroom: $1,336/month
- Two-bedroom: $2,132/month
- Three bedroom: $2,503/month
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation considers housing to be affordable if it costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s before-tax income. Using that metric, a single parent would need a $85,000 salary to afford a two-bedroom unit.
Those rents are far too high and the city should consider providing “some additional help” to bring them down, Jordan said.
“Those rents will stay there forever if we don’t put some additional money into it,” she said, noting the money could come from the city’s $127-million housing fund.
But the motion failed, with only two of Jordan’s nine council colleagues supporting it – councillors Dan Johnston and Paul McDonnel.
Coun. Pietro Calendino said he believed Jordan’s motion was “well intentioned” but said the city had already contributed a “good chunk” of money to the project – the equivalent of $7 million.
He said the city should take a more comprehensive approach to creating affordable housing rather than injecting money into a project that’s already underway.
“This project was signed almost two years ago; it’s moving along and there’s no need to re-awaken it and redo things,” he said.
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