Vancouver adopts temporary measures to boost homebuilding

Key Takeaways:

• Vancouver is temporarily cutting and deferring key development charges, which could shave $75–$100 million off project costs and ease cash-flow pressure for more than 250 active housing applications.
• The city is targeting support where pro formas are most stressed, with a new rental relief program, relaxed below-market rental requirements in RR zones, and an attainable home ownership pilot aimed at middle-income first-time buyers.
• Vancouver is trimming non-core costs and red tape — pausing TDM plans, sweetening public art cash-in-lieu discounts, making CBAs optional, and simplifying apartment design rules — to keep projects moving from approval to actual construction.

The Whole Story:

Vancouver city council has approved a package of fee cuts and policy changes aimed at keeping more than 250 housing projects — representing over 20,000 homes — moving into construction despite rising costs and softening rents.

The measures, adopted Dec. 10, include a temporary 20% reduction to development cost levies (DCLs), relaxed requirements for below-market rental projects, a new attainable home ownership pilot and proposed updates to apartment design rules.

“Vancouver is facing some of the most challenging construction conditions we’ve seen in years,” Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement. “If we want more homes that people can afford, we need to do our part to reduce development costs.”

Broad fee relief and deferrals

Council approved, in principle, a 20% discount to rates in the Vancouver DCL, Utilities DCL and area-specific DCL by-laws. The reduction is intended as a temporary measure until the city brings forward a new “Financing Growth” framework in the second quarter of 2026.

The city estimates the DCL rate cut, combined with existing protections for in-stream applications, could reduce city-wide development costs by $75 million to $100 million and improve cash flow for more than 250 active applications.

For projects facing large up-front charges, council also endorsed changes that allow DCLs over $500,000 to be paid in two installments, aligning with provincial legislation and regional practices. Under the revised structure, 25% would be due at first building permit, with the remaining 75% payable at either occupancy or four years later, whichever comes first.

Staff warn the combined effect of rate cuts and expanded deferrals could temporarily reduce DCL funding available for growth-related infrastructure by up to 60% in the 2027-30 capital plan, requiring interim financing and potential deferrals or re-scoping of some city projects.

Targeted support for rental housing

On the rental side, the city is proposing changes at both low-rise and high-rise scales.

For six-storey “RR” zones, staff plan to remove below-market rental requirements in RR-2 areas to allow 100% market rental projects, and to ease or remove below-market conditions for RR-3 mixed-use projects, particularly on the east side where pro formas are most stressed. Full zoning amendments are expected to come back to council in 2026.

For mid- and high-rise projects already carrying inclusionary rental obligations, council approved a two-year Rental Development Relief Program. The program will run from Feb. 1, 2026 to Dec. 15, 2027 and is aimed at in-stream projects with below-market rental requirements on sites with fewer than 10 existing rental units.

Key features include:

• Allowing below-market rents to be set at up to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s city-wide average rents for purpose-built rentals, instead of the current requirement for rates 20 per cent below those averages. Even at that level, the city says rents would remain up to 25 per cent below 2024 market rents in newer buildings.
  
• Eligibility for a full waiver of the city-wide DCL on the residential portion of qualifying buildings.
  
• Consideration of modest height and density increases to improve project viability, consistent with the forthcoming Official Development Plan.
  

Projects must secure revised housing agreements or CD-1 approvals by Dec. 15, 2027 and obtain a Stage 1 building permit within 24 months of council approval. Large sites and projects where below-market units were negotiated as part of community amenity contributions are excluded.

New attainable home ownership pilot

Council also approved an Attainable Home Ownership (AHO) Pilot Rezoning Policy that would allow four-storey strata apartment projects with a share of below-market ownership units for middle-income first-time buyers.

The pilot applies to off-arterial sites in low-density “transition” areas identified in the city’s Secured Rental Policy. Applications will be accepted from Jan. 1, 2026 to Dec. 15, 2027 and must generally follow the RR-2A form of development. At least 20 per cent of floor area is expected to be secured as attainable units, with a unit mix that mirrors the rest of the building.

The program is designed to align with provincial initiatives such as the Affordable Home Ownership Program and the Attainable Housing Initiative at Heather Lands, using a shared-equity model administered by the province. The city’s equity share would be secured as a second mortgage and repaid on resale or after 25 years, with proceeds reinvested in affordable housing.

Design rule changes for apartments

To reduce negotiation time at permitting and standardize expectations, staff will bring forward zoning amendments to clarify apartment design rules. Proposed changes include:

• Replacing current storage guidelines with a simple exclusion of up to about 5% of floor area for storage and a standard requirement of 2.3 square metres of storage per unit, located either in-suite or in common areas.
  
• Removing maximum limits on floor area exclusions for balconies and residential amenity spaces, giving designers more flexibility to provide larger outdoor and common rooms.
  
• Standardizing unit mix requirements so at least 35% of units in new apartment buildings have two or more bedrooms, and at least five per cent have three or more bedrooms, with exemptions for specific housing types such as seniors’ housing.
  
• Updating natural light rules so living rooms and bedrooms that count toward unit mix must have exterior windows, while allowing more flexible use of inboard rooms and “borrowed light” elsewhere in the plan.
  

These changes are intended to reduce back-and-forth over guidelines, speed up approvals and maintain family-oriented housing targets while improving project feasibility.

Relaxed TDM, public art and CBA requirements

Council also moved to reduce several non-construction cost items that have weighed on pro formas.

The city will pause its Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan requirement for development permit applications submitted after Dec. 10, 2025, removing the need for project-specific TDM plans and associated measures. Staff estimate the pause could cut costs by up to $4,300 per unit and shorten reviews, while a broader rethink of TDM tools is completed by 2027.

For rezonings, the discount on public art cash-in-lieu payments under “Option B” will increase from 20% to 40% for eligible in-stream applications that have not yet been to public hearing or have not yet had their rezoning by-law enacted by mid-2026.

At the same time, the city’s Community Benefits Agreement policy will be made optional for new rezonings and for certain large projects still awaiting by-law enactment. Staff say that since the CBA requirement was introduced in 2018, only three projects have met the threshold where a CBA was mandatory.