On February 22, Concert Chairman and CEO David Podmore was a panelist on the Tyee’s sold-out “Home for Good” event, which explored bold solutions for solving Vancouver’s desperate need for more affordable rental housing.

The event began with a video interview with Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Housing and one-on-one interview with Kishone Tony Roy, CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, followed by presentations on innovative ways to increase the affordable rental housing stock in Vancouver from both the “demand” and “supply” perspectives.

Affordable rental housing topics ranged from planning strategies to tenant rights, while Podmore, representing the development industry, offered valuable insight into the factors needed to more quickly and affordably meet increasing rental demand.

“The private sector can and does play a role in providing rental housing. Our company was founded in 1989 on the principle of building rental housing,” said Podmore. “The biggest problem we have today is that land costs in most of Canada are simply too high to support the development of rental housing – we have to look at other ways of freeing land that can be used for rental.”

To view the full video of the discussion, click here: https://thetyee.ca/Tyeenews/2017/03/02/Apartment-Home-For-Good/