VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Green Party of Vancouver has released their housing platform, ‘A city that’s affordable’, for the 2018 municipal election.

The Vancouver Greens believe people who live and work in Vancouver should have access to secure, good-quality, appropriate homes that are affordable to buy and rent. Using the tools already available to our city we will use a combination of zoning, development policies, building codes, partnerships, and civic assets to ensure a city that is affordable.

Greens are committed to a city-wide plan that has a livable city, not a growth strategy, as its goal. Developed with residents, this plan will determine how we grow and zone our city, where and in what forms we add new affordable housing, and how we increase liveability and quality of life.

Key points of the Green Party housing platform include:

• Recognize the right to housing in the Vancouver Charter
• Define affordability relative to local incomes: people should pay no more than 30% of their income
• Launch a city-funded, city-built housing program on city-owned land
• Change our building code to enable more affordable construction
• Use conditional zoning in all new plans to suppress land speculation and deliver public benefits
• Set a goal of 50% below-market-rate housing overall for all new multi-residential development
• Allow two or more secondary suites as incentives for retention and conversion of character homes

Quotes:

Adriane Carr, incumbent city councillor: “Housing is the number one issue we hear about from residents. The affordability crisis is pushing people and businesses out of Vancouver and breaking families apart. We need to be bolder but practical, demand more from developers, use every tool within our jurisdiction, and implore senior governments to invest more in housing. This election, we must elect our entire Green team to champion a Vancouver that is truly affordable.”

Pete Fry, council candidate and advocate for affordable housing: “It will take a measured, thoughtful approach and all of us working together to solve our housing issues. What we’re seeing today is housing prices that are completely out of sync with local incomes, real concerns about the relationship between developers and our political system, and families being forced to leave the community they love. We need a comprehensive, city-wide plan, co-developed with residents, to address this crisis and that’s what Vancouver Greens are committed to.”

Michael Wiebe, council candidate and small business owner: “Every day it gets harder for people and families to stay in Vancouver. We need more accessible and diverse housing options and city regulations that are clear, fair and effective at delivering the housing that we want.”

David Wong, council candidate, architect and former housing spokesperson for the BC Green Party: “True sustainability includes socially sustainable communities where residents and families can live where they work. It broke my heart when my son, a sixth generation Vancouverite, moved away to another province because he couldn’t afford to live here anymore. There are solutions to the challenges that we face, but we must work collaboratively and with integrity to implement them.”

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More information:

A city that’s affordable, Green Party of Vancouver Housing Platform