Vancouver council could look to religious groups for affordable housing [Video]

A motion coming to council Wednesday will ask staff to look at how faith-based groups could play a bigger role in increasing affordable housing stock in Vancouver.

Many religious groups own substantial amounts of land in the city, according to ABC Voun. Rebecca Bligh who will be putting the motion forward.

“What’s unique about faith-Based groups is that they have land holdings, very valuable land holdings, but also a mandate by their congregations to do social good,” Bligh said in an interview with CTV News.

The motion highlights that many of these properties are aging quickly but that faith-based groups lack staff with the knowledge required to initiate major redevelopments.

“These faith-based groups are often sitting on land that is actually tax free, so church land that does not pay property tax,” Bligh said, adding that “generally” these properties don’t have mortgages.

But faith-based groups also own properties that include …