When Vancouver's new chief housing officer assumes his newly created and controversial position in early October, he will be proof that mayor Gregor Robertson is acting on recommendations made a year ago by his task force on housing affordability.
Mukhtar Latif will be in charge of the city's housing initiatives and will work with developers, federal and provincial agencies and other organizations to deliver more affordable housing. He will also be in charge of the city spending when it comes to housing.
Vancouver city council created the mayor's task force on affordable housing in December 2011. Robertson highlighted how big a priority it was at the time, when he dubbed creating the task force as his "first action after being re-elected [in November 2011.]"
When the task force released its final report in September 2012, Robertson called for immediate action on its recommendations, which included creating the chief housing officer as part of a new city-owned entity to deliver affordable rental and social housing. Other recommendations included creatively using city land to kick-start development and improving engagement with residents.
Robertson told Business in Vancouver that hiring Latif as chief housing officer is "a coup" because of his extensive experience working with non profit housing organizations and developing a wide range of housing in the United Kingdom.
Vancouver city council has approved 757 new housing units so far this year including 60 units in two projects on September 24.
Those two projects (at 3068 Kingsway and 5650 Victoria Drive) are part of the city's former Short Term Incentives for Rental (STIR) program, which has since morphed into a new initiative called Rental 100 – a program that did not stem from task force recommendations.
Approved new housing that did stem from task force recommendations include those on four city sites newly leased to the Community Housing Land Trust Foundation (CHTF) at a nominal rate for 99 years. CHTF is subleasing those sites to developers to build 355 rental housing units, 273 of which must be rented for 20% less than the market rate.
Construction is set to start in March with the first residents able to move in by November 2015.
But critics either say Robertson and his Vision Vancouver majority on council have broken their word by not acting immediately on the recommendations or that the recommendations of his task force should not be acted on.
Councillor George Affleck blasted Robertson for creating within the city something akin to a Crown corporation responsible for housing, complete with a CEO and a housing fund that now has about $25 million.
Affleck argued that the city should not spend precious resources on housing, which he believed should be left to either the provincial or federal governments. Instead, he said, it should focus on streets, parks and community centres.
