This report, The Financial State of British Columbia’s Non-profit Housing Stock: Current and Emerging Opportunities, analyzes data from the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association’s (BCNPHA) Asset Analysis project. A sample of 797 non-profit housing buildings representing 63% of the sector in B.C. were included in the analysis, which seeks to answer the question: What is the financial state of B.C.’s non-profit housing sector and what does the current situation imply in terms of the opportunities and challenges that will emerge for the sector as operating agreements expire?
Non-profit housing societies manage affordable housing stock with government subsidies distributed within the terms of operating agreements. The majority of the non-profit housing sector will see their operating agreements expire within 25 years. At present there are no current plans for federal reinvestment of funds for those operating agreements devolved to the province by the federal government. The implicit intention of most operating agreements is that buildings will be able to meet operating costs with rental and other income once the mortgage has amortized and the subsidy withdrawn. In practice, this intention may be realised in some but not all cases. There are no current plans provincially to ensure that these expectations are valid and to ameliorate effects if they are found wanting. To better understand the impact of expiring operating agreements, an analysis of the financial viability of B.C.’s sector is necessary and has not previously been done.