Renters who lose their homes to redevelopment in the City of North Vancouver will soon be getting more compensation from developers.
Council voted unanimously Monday (July 12) on a motion to strengthen the city’s residential tenant displacement policy.
The motion came from Coun. Angela Girard, who told staff in May the city’s 2015 compensation scheme was no longer sufficient.
Soon, developers will be required to compensate tenants with at least four month’s rent (up from three, previously) plus another $25 per month of their tenure for those who have lived in a building for more than five years.
They must also receive between $1,000 and $1,500 for moving expenses, depending on how many bedrooms their rental has.
The developer will also have to hire an independent, third-party professional to assist demovictees in finding comparable rentals. For those who have barriers to finding new housing, such as disabilities or low income ($35,000 annually or less for renters with no dependents and $60,000 or less for renters with dependents), the developer will be expected to provide a higher degree of assistance.
And unlike the old policy, this one will also apply to people being demovicted from single-family homes and strata buildings with five or more tenants.
Vancouver and Burnaby have more generous compensation packages for tenants, but the City of North Van would not be able to match those due to the much smaller scale of developments typically approved here, according to staff.
“I further recognized this policy is one piece in keeping existing tenants within our community. The other … is essentially securing more mid-market rentals that would allow tenants who've lived, worked and contributed to our community to remain here for the long-term,” Girard said.
At the start of the meeting, North Shore public teacher Zoltan Virag told council he expected to be demovicted from his 1960s rental building before long and urged council to go ahead with the updated rental assistance package.
“The effects have caused quite a lot of stress. For us to be looking for something comparable is very daunting and our rent will undoubtedly increase two-, perhaps even three-fold if we would like to stay on the North Shore,” he said. “I live here. I play here. I work here and I would love to stay here.”
Mayor Linda Buchanan acknowledged the stress renters feel when facing demoviction and said the change was needed with more demovictions likely in the future.
“People are anxious, and for many people who have lived for many years in their buildings and have not had to be part of this current state we find ourselves in, it can be extremely stressful for everybody but particularly for those in our community who have more vulnerabilities,” she said. “It is hard. It’s responding to the challenges of a market that is incredibly unaffordable. And some of our older stock is the most affordable, but at some point, it does come to the place where it does need to be replaced.”
