Vancouver councillor pushes city to extend temporary modular housing leases

A Vancouver city councillor is urging the city to extend leases for temporary modular housing developments.

In a release, OneCity Vancouver’s Christine Boyle says leases for hundreds of units are set to expire over the next few years.

She has put forward a motion asking staff to “work towards renewing or extending leases” beyond their 10-year limit for several developments, including Larwill Place. The motion also asks staff to identify new sites for these buildings if they need to be relocated.

Her plan, she explains, “would grant these structures a new lease on life” and ensure the people who rely on these units are housed.

Across Vancouver, hundreds of units in temporary modular housing have leases that may expire in the next few years.

This puts hundreds of Vancouverites' housing at risk.

.@christineeboyle says: the leases must be extended.

Read our news release: https://t.co/EDlT5MPGgu

— OneCity Vancouver (@OneCityVan) July 10, 2023

Larwill Place is used by people experiencing homelessness, or people at risk of becoming unhoused in the city’s downtown core. Its lease is up at the end of July.

The development opened in 2018 and features 98 units. The building is located in a parking lot at 610 Cambie Street, which is slated to be the site of the new Vancouver Art Gallery.

“Tenants are being relocated into permanent supportive housing, but the end of these leases has raised community concern,” a release from OneCity Vancouver reads.

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon has previously said everyone living at Larwill Place has been offered alternative housing options.

“This site in particular is a site where the lease has come up. If the City of Vancouver were to offer us an alternative location, we certainly would look at the opportunity. But as of now, we’re still searching for where that next opportunity will be for these modulars,” Kahlon explained in June.

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“In Vancouver, we say that housing is a human right – but how can we say that if we allow these leases to expire? With a housing shortage in Vancouver, we can’t allow these supportive units to disappear,” Boyle said Monday.

She says the temporary developments are physically “strong, durable, and can last for decades,” but adds, “the only reason that these sites are ‘temporary’ is due to the land lease arrangements.”

Boyle’s motion is set to go before council on Wednesday.