B.C. greenlights thousands of new homes in Metro Vancouver

The B.C. government has made another pre-election housing announcement, this time as part of its Community Housing Fund.

Premier David Eby says 17 more projects have been approved, creating nearly 2,000 affordable rental homes in Metro Vancouver.

“Today’s announcement of these 2,000 additional homes, affordable for people … is just part of the work that we’re doing on housing. There is no one solution to the housing crisis, we have to come at this from so many different angles,” he said Tuesday.

“These are new homes for families and seniors, new homes for former youth in care and women fleeing violence. Everything from townhomes, smaller developments, to huge, multi-unit developments.”

Eby made the announcement at the construction site for an affordable housing development in Surrey, saying the latest round of funding will bring much-needed homes to every region of the province.

The new homes are being made possible by partnerships between the province and local non-profits, the government explains.

The Community Housing Fund is part of a $19-billion housing investment by the provincial government. The goal of the program is to create 20,000 homes province-wide by the year 2032.

“[It] is a fund that’s really dedicated for people who are living on those fixed incomes, people who are at risk of homelessness, to be able to get into housing,” Eby added.

The province explains CHF program developments see 70 per cent of residents “pay rent geared to income, where rent is generally based on 30 per cent of household income.”

The remaining units are offered at or below market rates for those with moderate incomes.