Victoria council mulls zoning change to preserve existing rental apartments

Victoria city councillors will look at a zoning change to ensure the city's existing purpose-built rental buildings — about 500 in total — cannot be redeveloped for condos or other uses.

On Thursday, council decided to consult with building owners, renters and the general public on applying the residential rental tenure zoning to the buildings, which have around 16,000 units.

The B.C. Legislature approved a new zoning power for municipalities in 2018, allowing them to classify properties as rental tenure zoning. It means any building with this type of zoning would remain rental, even in the case of redevelopment.

Coun. Ben Issit says the proposal could be an important way to preserve a housing type that nearly 60 per cent of the city's population relies on.

"Preserving the existing housing supply is the first step that needs to be taken as a part of an affordable housing strategy," Issit said.

"Rental housing is going to be an essential part of our housing system for a long time to come and probably in perpetuity."

Controversial proposal

However not everyone is on board with the proposal.

Jordan Milne, the capital region chairperson for the Urban Development Institute, says a blanket application of the new zoning on all rental buildings is not the way to go. 

"This is a new tool that we don't have a precedent to look to. I think it's important that we tread cautiously as to how we apply this to ensure that there are no negative implications and repercussions for our city," Milne said. 

He says applying a blanket ban sends the message to property owners that property entitlement rights could change without your consent, which could discourage investment in rental housing.

He said there are better ways of preserve the city's rental stock and improve the quality of the stock available, like allowing owners to opt into the tenure system, or incentivizing building owners to make improvements to old building stock. 

'A political decision'

Issit says he expects pushback on the proposal and council welcomes open discussion.

"All stages of approval of the bylaw will take place in an open council meeting. There'll be a public hearing prior to any decision being taken in terms of introducing this form of tenure. There also will be targeted engagement with property owners in advance of the bylaw coming forward for council's consideration," he said. 

"Ultimately, it will be a political decision by council as to whether or not to move forward with the bylaw and the rental zoning."

He says the bylaws will be put forward in the fall.