At times, it feels like every home that is sold in Richmond is a teardown. With a surge of mega-homes being built across Metro Vancouver, plenty of structurally-sound houses — some of which underwent tens of thousands of dollars in renovations — end up being demolished.
“It’s really heartbreaking sometimes because you see the number of quality homes that are just being bought up and knocked down in a heartbeat,” Rick Picard of Nickel Bros said.
Richmond City Council has unanimously passed a motion aimed at making it more attractive to save old houses than to scrap them.
On top of a $250 demolition fee, builders would pay a $2-per-square-foot deposit, all or part of which would be refunded depending on what percentage of the house is recycled.
“Years ago, Sidney over on Vancouver Island offered a deal where if you were tearing down your house, it was going to be around a $3,300 fee. But if you wanted to remove your house and sell it and have it relocated, the fee was $1. I would love to see that kind of incentive here in Richmond,” Councillor Carol Day said.
In the City of Richmond, 512 homes were demolished in 2015.
Critics say it would be too costly to bring older homes up to modern building codes. Day says it’s worth changing the rules to allow for this kind of recycling.
One Richmond home is being prepped for transport to Washington state and at least one neighbour is pleased to see it won’t be torn down.
“It was such a good feeling to know that this house was going to have a life somewhere else,” Anne Racich said.
– With files from John Hua