Vancouver is experimenting with a new way for families to meet sky-high mortgage payments: selling condos with built-in rental suites.
The first example is a project at Simon Fraser University, where 40 three-bedroom units have already sold. Owners get a three-bedroom condo, with one 240-square-foot bedroom featuring its own entrance off the main corridor, with a bed, bathroom and kitchen.
The project is a far cry from Seattle, where the city council just grudgingly allowed homeowners to rent-out part of their property -- with a raft of restrictions. Love of the city's single-family home status quo takes precedence over improving livability since limiting supply keeps prices artificially high and stifles demand for urban services.
In Vancouver, Mayor Sam Sullivan has said encouraging creative housing styles will allow the city to build more units with a wider range of options, which will help lower prices. One plan is to to consider reducing the number of parking stalls in new condo buildings, a step that would lower development costs and encourage transit use.