Redevelopment of properties that require the temporary displacement of tenants presents an ongoing challenge, both financially and in finding suitable homes. In some cases, social housing providers adopt a strategy of keeping units vacant in other properties in preparation for a redevelopment but that can’t address the whole problem and also it is not an ideal solution as it decreases the availability of affordable housing.
Besides non-profit housing providers there are many development companies that have older buildings that could be demolished (but the problem they face is the same re-location problem. Even if the existing tenants can be housed at the same rental rate in a new development where are they to be housed in the interim?
A long-term solution requires a strategy for funding and creating sufficient units to provide the least disruption as possible over extended (redevelopment) periods. We need to build ‘transitional or interim buildings’ to house displaced tenants during this process
To provide the level of affordability required for these transitional units one solution is to secure land at zero cost and to have agreements in place to ensure that affordability is maintained.
In a perfect world existing non-profit housing providers, faith groups, service organizations etc. could earmark a piece of land for this purpose. Municipalities could provide leased land for, say, 60 or more years for free and for developers could guarantee that the displaced tenants could return at affordable rates. (some municipalities already require this).