Major Changes to old Vancouver buildings on the way.
Huge changes have been proposed for strata corporations. We could start seeing lots of older buildings around Vancouver getting torn down and re developed.
A new law has been proposed making it easier for owners to terminate their strata corporation. Currently, there are many older buildings in Vancouver, especially in areas like Kitsilano and the West End. As these buildings continue to age, some 50-60 years old, costs can climb and start to become unreasonable.
Many owners feel that instead of repairing the building it should be knocked down and sold to developers so they can re develop it. Many times it just makes more sense than continually pumping money into an old building where the improvement costs outweigh the return on investment. They are also better to maximize the land space with a redevelopment.
Currently if owners want to sell their condo unit to developers they need everyone in strata to vote unanimously to terminate their strata corporation and then sell the entire building to a developer. However, the new proposed change will make it from a unanimous vote to only an 80% vote required.
This could mean lots of older buildings getting torn down and re developed. Potentially getting the owners paid out more than market value if the building is able to be redeveloped into more units.
Personally, I really like this move. I think the current law of getting 100% of votes is unreasonable. There’s always going to be that one stubborn person. It would be a shame to see 98% of owners vote for a sale and re development and then have that 1 person that shuts down the entire thing.
I think someone who is also considering buying into an older building should see this as a positive. It basically gives you another option, another out.
The new proposed law I believe will go into effect. It will create some major changes and I think this will be a big trend in the coming years. We have a lot of old buildings here in Vancouver. Although I believe much of our heritage should be preserved, there are cases where changes need to be made, and I believe these new modern laws will help make that a reality. Exciting times!
