Are The Endtimes Approaching For Housing Co-Ops In Vancouver?

Where'dOurCanada
GoGoVille


With federal government subsidies, in the form of mortgage help set to end over the next decade it just might be.

Frank O'Brien Of BIV has the story:

...There are 264 housing co-operatives in B.C., mostly in Metro Vancouver. About 6,000 Vancouver residents live in co-ops, some of which are located on prime West Side real estate.

The Government of Canada started building co-operative housing in the 1970s and '80s to provide housing during a crisis in the rental sector, explained Thom Armstrong, executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF-BC).

Under the agreement, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. provided co-ops with a subsidy for the entire life of the mortgage, which allowed co-ops to keep rents below market value. For a percentage of members, the subsidy kept rents at 30% of their income. Those people, an estimated 1,600 in Vancouver, include single mothers, new immigrants, people with disabilities and the elderly...


And is there a potential saviour out there for those folks that need a little help most?

Of course there is:

...Housing co-ops are able to borrow funds to cover such repairs and maintenance, Armstrong said, and realize they will have to raise rents. But, without government assistance, they cannot afford to also continue subsidies for the lowest-income residents, most of whom would be forced out.

But there is a third choice open for Vancouver co-ops that are in the right locations.

“We get approached every day by real estate developers,” Armstrong said.

Some Vancouver co-ops are located on large parcels of land near Canada Line stations or have much lower density than current zoning allows, he said. This has made the properties extremely valuable...


Like I said.

Endtimes.


.