Every member of Vancouver family now owns a home: a unique path to affordability

Inside a beautiful craftsman house in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood is a heartwarming story of family, support and housing affordability.

“It starts with how do kids get to live in Vancouver with a piece of grass outside,” explained Vancouver real estate lawyer Richard Bell.

His family is a living example of how to make that possible. A few years ago Bell and his wife Reni decided to renovate the home they had owned for 14 years. Their two young daughters were living on their own, Heather with her husband Andrew Stegemann and Bell’s eldest daughter Julianne had been traveling abroad.

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“What we did is gifted each of our children and son-in-law a piece of the dirt,” said Bell.

Building a family compound on the same piece of land was Reni’s idea and a year and a half ago everyone moved in.

The main house was essentially turned into a duplex and a laneway house was added to the back.