Steps Taken to Obtain Redress
Organizations involved with this issue have, for years, advocated for better controls over the conversion of the privately owned low income housing stock. Primarily this advocacy has taken place through presentations to the City of Vancouver city council and letters and presentations to members of provincial governments.

Of note, a call for a moratorium on SRO conversions was voted down by Council. A call for increasing the fine to convert rooms to other uses to a level that would cover the full cost of replacement was voted down by Council. A call to use the Standards of Maintenance Bylaw to do repairs on buildings as required and bill owners passed in early 2007, but has yet to be used. A call to include the closure of a building as a conversion to another use and forbid such actions under the Single Room Accommodation Bylaw was ignored.

In 2006, the Pivot Legal Society issued a report called Cracks in the Foundation detailing concerns that standards of maintenance were not being enforced in SRO housing, resulting in the housing deteriorating and being condemned, making people homeless. In particular, declines in the number of health standards enforcement actions from a high of 106 in 1999 to a low of six in 2006 were emphasized. Further, the report alleged that the SRO closures due to real estate speculation and conversion to student housing and other uses were accelerating. Copies of the report were distributed to all levels of government. No action was taken on the items of concern related to SRO closures and deterioration.