The Vancouver Life Real Estate Podcast New Housing Initiatives Enough To Create Meaningful Growth?
In this podcast episode, we delve into the pressing housing crisis in Canada, particularly focusing on British Columbia and Vancouver with the release of the much anticipated multiplex plan. There’s a number of challenges faced by local councils when it comes
to enacting new by-laws for any kind of real estate but particularly when it comes to an initiative of this magnitude. With city council looking at a mid-October deadline to enact the new law, we could see real change coming soon!
Recent newspaper headlines have indicated that municipalities could be ordered to build up to 60,000 new homes across ten municipalities within the next five years in BC. Although, we’re not quite sure how to order a developer to build a new home under today’s current economic climate - as such the emphasis for aggressive incentives will be required to see the projects success. Take the Housing Accelerator Fund for example, a federal policy that would grant the District of North Vancouver $9 million dollars subsidize 3,000 homes... which amounts to just $3,000 dollars per home - an amount that has been scrutinized for its perceived inadequacy.
We also explore the need for both short-term and long-term housing plans that address the demand that exists within the country. We discuss the importance of housing policy reform, addressing rent controls, streamlining permitting and rezoning processes, and adjusting tax structures. Immigration policies need to be re-aligned with available housing capacity and we discuss the need for adequate incentives to not only builders but also investors and current home owners who elect to supply housing within our tight market.
Lastly, we delve into and discuss the comments from local mayors and we consider the recent actions from the Minister of Finance, who announced that the annual limit for Canada Mortgage Bonds is being increased from $40 billion to up to $60 billion. This will help to unlock low-cost financing for multi-unit rental construction as will the removal of GST on the construction of rental units and no cost to rezoning thanks to the multiplex plan and the accelerator fund. All good starts.. but will it be enough or is it just
a drop in the proverbial bucket?
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Ryan Dash PREC
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