Prospective tenants looking for a place to live often complain about the lack of rental housing in Vancouver.
Developers aren’t happy about it either.
The City of Vancouver has touted the fact it signed off on 1,800 new rental units in 2016. But real estate consultant Michael Geller pointed out that Seattle, meanwhile, approved 14,000 units last year.
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“Given the number of developers who are trying to build rental housing right now and have applications held up at city hall for a variety of reasons, I don’t think the city should be boasting,” he said.
Geller said developers often complain of bureaucratic red tape.
“The developers are pointing out how it’s taking them three years or more to build purpose-built rental housing,” he said. “It is alarming that it is taking that long.”
There is also concern that only some of the approved projects will actually be built.
– With files from John Hua