A four-unit townhouse in West 91大黄鸭 will be converted from rental housing to strata-titled units for individual sale, following a council vote that went against city staff鈥檚 recommendation.
At council鈥檚 June 24 meeting, property owner Brad Bredin applied to convert the 1988-built property at 2742 Riffington Place from rental units into strata units.
City staff advised council to reject the application, pointing to the city鈥檚 draft Rental Protection Policy, which is designed to prevent the loss of rental housing. Though the policy is still in development, it currently exempts buildings with fewer than five units鈥攂ut that could change once finalized later this summer.
Bredin, a former realtor, said the city鈥檚 rental situation has improved in recent years.
鈥淲est 91大黄鸭 has a healthy 3.7 per cent vacancy rate, resulting from a large number of rental properties built over the last few years,鈥� he told council. 鈥淒evelopers continue to build purpose-built rentals on the Westside, including numerous on Westbank First Nation land. What is not being built is affordable family housing.鈥�
He estimated his townhouses would sell for between $420,000 and $430,000.
鈥淭here鈥檚 only one townhouse available on the Westside for sale right now under $450,000,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 a real need for this type of housing.鈥�
Councillors Garrett Millsap, Stephen Johnston, and Mayor Gord Milsom voted in favour of the conversion.
鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 really easy to find a rental right now,鈥� said Millsap. 鈥淭he rental market is flooded. There鈥檚 buildings that are vacant.鈥�
Johnston wants to see more houses built that encourage ownership at different levels.
鈥淚 actually think that鈥檚 where we鈥檙e going to be better off in the future鈥攚here we can have Canadians owning homes and then saving for retirement via that homeownership model. Rental doesn鈥檛 really handle that long-term.鈥�
Mayor Milsom also supported the idea of expanding affordable ownership.
鈥淎s far as ownership for affordability of homes, that鈥檚 another aspect that鈥檚 really important in our community, and these do seem to be priced well for young families,鈥� he said.
Councillor Rick de Jong was the only vote in opposition.
鈥淚 understand why the applicant wants to do what he wants to do,鈥� he said. "And certainly, do we want to provide affordable housing for the community? You bet. 鈥淏ut by the same token, we need to protect our rental stock so that we don鈥檛 drop under three per cent.鈥�
The provincial government requires municipalities to maintain a supply of rental units to meet at least a three per cent vacancy rate, and meet local demand.
鈥淲e aren鈥檛 seeing a lot of purpose-built rentals right now and our population is growing,鈥� de Jong noted.
He also raised concerns about tenant displacement.
鈥淪ome of those tenants just simply aren鈥檛 in a position to purchase鈥擨鈥檓 actually going to support staff鈥檚 recommendation today. It really is a tough one. I look at both directions and I could argue both ways.鈥�
