Every Acquisition BC's Rental Protection Fund Is Facilitating

After David Eby stepped into the role of Premier in late 2022, one of the first big announcements he and Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon made was the creation of the Rental Protection Fund, in January 2023.

Eby first raised the idea is his housing platform during his campaign, calling it the Rental Housing Acquisition Fund. Now operating as the Rental Protection Fund, the organization hired its Chief Executive Officer in May and then its Chief Investment Officer this January.

What is the Rental Protection Fund?

The tagline of the Rental Protection Fund is "The most affordable housing we have is the housing we've already got."

The belief behind the fund is that much of the affordable housing in British Columbia is being lost to redevelopment and being replaced with newer homes that are more expensive, quietly reducing the province's supply of affordable homes. Therefore, an important tool in the fight against housing affordability is to preserve existing affordable housing.

Stemming from this belief, the Rental Protection Fund will distribute money to non-profit organizations to help them acquire existing affordable rental buildings, essentially shielding them from redevelopment. Beginning last year, the fund sought out applications from non-profits seeking to pre-qualify for funding, before those non-profits then identified properties they were looking to acquire and presented them to the Rental Protection Fund. The final stage then entails the fund vetting formal acquisition proposals, including underwriting and confirmation of lenders.

For more details about how the Rental Protection Fund will work, its creation, and its launch, read our one-on-one interview with CEO Katie Maslechko here: Link.

How much money is the Rental Protection Fund distributing?

The Rental Protection Fund launched with a pool of $500M that will be distributed to non-profits.

The fund has a stated goal of acquiring 2,000 units of affordable housing and it remains up in the air whether the Province will inject another round of funding in the future.

Which buildings are being acquired through the Rental Protection Fund?

The Rental Protection Fund has now pre-qualified a group of 25 non-profits and is working its way through the acquisition proposals, with announcements of acquisitions beginning last month.

Below is a map and full list with all of the announced acquisitions, both of which will be updated as more announcements are made.

1. 2860 Packard Avenue, Coquitlam (Tri-Branch Co-Op)

Announced: February 8, 2024
Buyer: Community Land Trust (CLT)
Units: 169
Rental Protection Fund Grant: $71M (together with 2865 Packard Avenue)
Other Details: The land lease of the building expired in October 2022 and the co-ops were in lease-payment arrears, putting their future at risk. CLT is acquiring both 2860 and 2865 Packard Avenue for a total of $125M.

2. 2865 Packard Avenue, Coquitlam (Garden Court Co-Op)

Announced: February 8, 2024
Buyer: Community Land Trust
Units: 121
Rental Protection Fund Grant: $71M (together with 2860 Packard Avenue)
Other Details: The land lease of the building expired in October 2022 and the co-ops were in lease-payment arrears, putting their future at risk. CLT is acquiring both 2860 and 2865 Packard Avenue for a total of $125M.

3. 860 Carrie Street, Esquimalt

Announced: February 28, 2024
Buyer: Lu'ma Native Housing Society
Units: 16
Rental Protection Fund Grant: $3M
Other Details: The total acquisition cost is $5.3M. The building had been listed for sale and was at risk of redevelopment.

4. 5375 204 Street and 5375 203 Street, Langley

Announced: March 28, 2024
Buyer: New Vista Housing Society
Units: 108
Rental Protection Fund Grant: $23.8M
Other Details: The two buildings were named The Brighton and The Claymore and were listed by Cushman & Wakefiled on behalf of CAPREIT.

5. 3940 Pender Street, Burnaby

Announced: TBA
Buyer: TBA
Units: 41
Rental Protection Fund Grant: TBA
Other Details: The sale was brokered by Goodman Commercial with an asking price of $11,790,000.

Total Number of Units Acquired: 414

Total Amount of Funding Distributed: $97.8M

From Your Site Articles

Policy

Every Acquisition BC's Rental Protection Fund Is Facilitating (MAP)

The Rental Protection Fund will distribute $500M to non-profits to acquire existing affordable housing buildings and we're following the money.

What is the Rental Protection Fund?

How much money is the Rental Protection Fund distributing?

Which buildings are being acquired through the Rental Protection Fund?

Total Number of Units Acquired: 414

Total Amount of Funding Distributed: $97.8M

Trending

You may also like

On May 1, development charges on Toronto condos will increase 20.7% from their current rates, meaning the average one-bedroom and bachelor unit will now cost $44,774 in development charges (up from $37,081).

And when it comes to real estate, Whistler is all about luxurious cabins, cozy cottages, and chalet homes — such as 8349 Needles Drive, which is currently on the market for $3,799,000.

Budget 2024 documents reveal that the $1.5B Canada Rental Protection Fund will be launching with just $5M in its first year.

For those seeking to call a (sprawling) piece of cottage country all their own, newly listed 1161 Stephen Road encapsulates the best of what the region has to offer.

An investigation has found that Hira Custom Homes had previously “attempted to sell homes that were already under an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, unjustifiably increased prices, did not comply with conditions on its licence, and provided false information to both purchasers and the HCRA.”

The HCRA has revealed that Christopher Lamb and his former company Novel Condominiums “have been found guilty of 26 charges of selling new homes illegally,” and as a result, have been hit with a $150,000 fine.

​The Broadway-Commercial Safeway redevelopment by Westbank and Crombie REIT has seen numerous revisions over the past few years, and is going to get another.

Contessa Developments’ plans to bring a 22-storey purpose-built rental building to the site have forcibly come to a stand-still after receivership proceedings were initiated last summer.

New home sales in March were down 16% from March 2023 and 66% below the 10-year average, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence.

​The next group of municipalities to receive housing targets under the Housing Supply Act include Surrey, Kelowna, and New Westminster, among others.

The forthcoming master-plan community will comprise of four towers, and will jointly bring 2,364 new residential units to the site on Eglinton Avenue.

To kick off 2024, the presale market in Metro Vancouver has been a bit better than perhaps some were expecting, but also not great. So, what's next?

Toronto City Council approved a series of “updates” to RentSafeTO last week, and among those were new parameters for city inspections, a more hands-on system for tenant complaints, and increased fees for non-compliance.

Along with Jack Poole, David Podmore founded Concert Properties in 1989, then known as VLC Properties.

​If you haven’t met Callum MacLachlan, you’ve likely heard of him — or, even more likely, seen his work.

​Zoocasa crunched the numbers to see where it’s the most affordable to buy a home along the GO Station line.

2024 © STOREYS Publishing Inc. | All Rights Reserved

The Broadway-Commercial Safeway redevelopment by Westbank and Crombie REIT has seen numerous revisions over the past few years, and is going to get another.

The next group of municipalities to receive housing targets under the Housing Supply Act include Surrey, Kelowna, and New Westminster, among others.

If you haven’t met Callum MacLachlan, you’ve likely heard of him — or, even more likely, seen his work.

Zoocasa crunched the numbers to see where it’s the most affordable to buy a home along the GO Station line.