Vancouver approves new housing grant for city's renters

A new program to help housing affordability for Vancouver renters has been approved by the city council.

It will award $25 million in grants to non-profit housing providers between 2019 and 2022, which will increase the affordability of social and co-op housing projects.

The Community Housing Incentive Program will be funded by revenue from the Empty Homes Tax and the City’s capital budget. It replaces the Housing Infrastructure Grant Program.

Between 2015 and 2018, the Housing Infrastructure Grant Program supported 10 projects, with $10.8 million in grants that enabled the delivery of 780 non-market homes.

In consultation with non-market housing providers, staff revised the existing program to target a higher funding contribution from the City, increasing the number of homes that rent at shelter rate and Housing Income Limits (HILs) through new projects and redevelopment.

The grants will be open for applications later this year, with more information coming soon regarding how the new process will work.

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