The City of Vancouver says it has adopted a "significant shift" in housing policy for the Downtown Eastside to speed up the replacement of rooming houses in the impoverished neighbourhood. 

Council voted last night to amend zoning and development rules, changing the definition of "social housing" in the neighbourhood, while reducing the number of units in a building required to be rented out at income assistance shelter rates. 

The report to council recommending the changes says the revisions would align the city's affordability requirements with senior government funding programs, which could "decrease" affordability for some projects but increase development. 

The report says it's "never been more expensive" to build affordable housing while the city continues to rely on aging single-room occupancy buildings to house low-income residents at risk of homelessness. 

Mayor Ken Sim says single-room occupancy buildings are deteriorating and "regulatory barriers" have stopped replacement projects from going ahead. 

The city says the changes adopted by council "modernize outdated rules" that have hampered efforts to fix "deteriorating housing conditions in one of Vancouver’s most complex neighbourhoods." 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.