A promise by Vision Vancouver to end street homelessness by 2015 has garnered a lot of attention following the November 15 civic election. But another part of the party’s platform—a pledge to “unlock vacant condo units as rental properties”—hasn’t generated nearly as much coverage.

Prior to winning Vision’s mayoral nomination, Gregor Robertson mused publicly about imposing a speculator’s tax on vacant condos to entice owners to add them to the rental pool. The Vision platform claimed there are “thousands” of these empty units across the city.

In a recent interview with the Georgia Straight, Robertson said the party is still figuring out ways to reach his goal of making these units available to tenants. “We’re looking into positive feedback and incentives to encourage property owners and strata councils to unlock vacant condo units for rental,” Robertson said. He added that this will involve “working with the province and the strata councils to get rid of the barriers to buildings being available to rent”.

However, one of the city’s most experienced condo managers claims that whoever dreamed up this plank of the Vision Vancouver platform has a “poor understanding” about how strata corporations operate. Gerry Fanaken, CEO of Vancouver Condominium Services Ltd., told the Straight in a phone interview that there aren’t thousands of vacant units in the city. “The whole premise here is false,” Fanaken insisted. “There may be a few that are sitting vacant. It’s true that maybe developers in a down market might have vacant strata lots”¦but in terms of properties that are already established, there is simply not that kind of inventory.”

Fanaken’s company manages 175 buildings containing approximately 16,000 units. He said that under the Strata Property Act, strata corporations can create bylaws banning rental units. He said that about half of the buildings under his company’s management have no such bylaws; the rest typically set rules allowing no more than 25 percent of the units to be rented.

He added that it’s “highly unlikely” the provincial government would change the law to prevent strata corporations from banning rentals, because it would anger condo owners. “Strata corporations, as a general rule, try to discourage rentals because they are supposed to be owner-occupied premises,” Fanaken said. “That’s not anything against tenants, but it’s a different mindset.”

The city would have to offer huge incentives to encourage more units to be rented, Fanaken said. “Strata corporations and strata councils are not going to unlock, to use that phrase, on nickels and dimes,” he claimed. “It would have to be substantial, and I think that would defeat the whole purpose of the scheme.”

Last month, city council approved a rental-housing strategy. “We are going to be gathering information on a number of fronts, including the role of rental condos, the question of how many there are in the city, and what, if anything, we should be doing about that,” Vancouver’s senior housing planner, Jill Davidson, told the Straight by phone. “That is something that is just getting started.”

B.C. Hydro, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Terasen Gas, and the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association’s Renovation Council are presenting a free seminar on home renovations on Tuesday (November 25), from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Croatian Cultural Centre (3250 Commercial Drive). “Renovation, of course, is a hot trend—$7 billion will be spent on home renovation and improvement in B.C. this year alone,” Peter Simpson, CEO of the GVHBA, told the Straight in a phone interview. “We believe it’s crucial that homeowners do their homework before they sign on the dotted line. There is a lot of fly-by-night operators who want to take advantage of homeowners.”

He noted that dealing in the cash-only underground economy, rather than with a professional renovator, exposes people to legal scrutiny by municipal bylaw officials, provincial safety authorities, and federal tax collectors. The GVHBA recently launched a program called RenoMark, which offers a roster of renovators who agree to follow a code of conduct. “It includes warranties, making sure you have all the applicable liability and WorkSafeBC insurance, permits, inspections, all of this stuff,” Simpson said.