It’s time once again for British Columbians to head to the polls, and housing is top of mind for many voters. In the lead-up to the provincial election, the BCREA Government Relations department will be speaking with delegates at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention, in Vancouver. This page provides key supplemental information for UBCM attendees about BCREA’s key election issues.
As in all campaigns, there are important issues – this time, few are more critical than housing affordability. BCREA feels that our provincial parties should be focused on policies that provide more housing options, for more people, in more places.
To that end, here are the issues that we are concerned about.
In our view, the undersupply of housing over the past decades, combined with unrelenting demand, has resulted in price escalation and excessive competition for housing in most regions of BC. There is no easy, quick fix to this situation. It will take years of determined policies to turn the market around so that people can find the appropriate forms of housing that they need at affordable price points.
The most recent provincial government has focused much of its policy platform on the expansion of supply – allowing more density in single-family zoned areas, encouraging municipalities to reform their zoning and set definitive housing targets, mandating higher density at transit nodes, and providing infrastructure funding for local governments. BCREA is generally supportive of these measures and would encourage their continuation.
Housing is a continuum and, as such, depends on government-supported non-market housing to provide the supply that the market cannot. Expanded and ongoing investment in supportive housing, co-ops, and non-market housing, as well as newer forms such as co-housing, will be important moving forward.
In order to build the volume of new units necessary to put downward pressure on prices (both ownership and rental), the construction industry must expand its capacity. Concerns over the net loss of labour in the construction sector (more retirees than new recruits) are well-founded and have been observed over the past decades. The sector must also explore more innovative methods in order to meet our housing goals, as outlined in BCREA’s recent Market Intelligence report: Building the Future: Unlocking the Production Potential of BC’s Housing Sector. Utilizing modular and pre-fabricated processes and increasing the use of mass timber will allow for faster construction times.
In addition, excessive delays in the approval process must be addressed. Progress has been made by pre-zoning more density in residential areas, and the emphasis on pre-loading the planning process through Housing Needs Reports and updated Official Community Plans should help. The use of standardized templates for housing forms should also improve permit processing times, as should innovative permit intake processes, such as electronic document filing.
As governments roll out new housing policies, care must be taken to ensure they will accomplish their intended objectives without producing unintended negative consequences.
While ministerial policy staff are often very intelligent people, they may not have the important “on the ground” experience in the areas where their policies and regulations will be implemented. While few would argue with an overall policy objective of “building more housing supply” or “helping first-time buyers,” the connection between a lofty policy goal and the actual regulations needed to accomplish them may be fraught with hurdles and bureaucratic obstacles.
BCREA has long recommended the formation of a Permanent Housing Roundtable, made up of a limited number of representatives from various stakeholders in the housing sector, whose purpose would be to vet proposed policies and regulations, and monitor the effectiveness of existing measures. Having that valuable feedback prior to the enactment of new regulations is far more effective than the alternative of creating new policy, finding out that there are challenging elements that should never have been included, and having to retract or amend the legislation some time later. Using the collective intelligence of the sector to “get it right the first time” would be a far more efficient way to solve our housing issues.
When originally introduced in 1987, the Property Transfer Tax (PTT) was intended to be a wealth tax to discourage speculation. The tax was set at one per cent on home values up to $200,000, and two per cent beyond that threshold. There has been no systematic review of the PTT in 37 years. As an example, the $200,000 threshold was originally intended to capture the top two per cent of sales prices in BC. In 2023, there was not a single transaction under $200,000 in the Greater Vancouver area.
Clearly, the $200,000 threshold no longer represents a “luxury tax.” There should be a revision of the threshold to provide some assistance to first-time homebuyers, and the threshold should be subject to periodic review to reflect the state of the real estate market.
BCREA would also recommend a review of the Speculation and Vacancy Tax, the Foreign Buyers Tax, and the recently announced “Flipping Tax.”
Risk-takers are essential for increasing housing supply and improving affordability. (Published on Business in Vancouver)
The Rustad Rebate and the BC NDP housing plan both come with costly risks. (Published on The Orca)
Streamlining regulations for off-site construction can fast-track housing without sacrificing quality or sustainability. (Published on Business in Vancouver)
Here are four key housing questions to ask your local candidates, along with some background and context on each. (Published on Daily Hive)
The BCREA Government Relations department successfully lobbied the BC Government to address concerns with Residential Tenancy Act changes. But there are still several issues with the legislation that, as yet, continue to go unaddressed. (Published in Real Estate Magazine)
BC NDP and BC Conservative election promises commit significant public money to address housing costs at scale. (Published on The Orca)
With the BC election less than two weeks away, BCREA is calling for major housing tax reform aimed at increasing affordability and fairness in the province.
The PTT ceased being a “luxury tax” decades ago. Trying to make homeownership more attainable while retaining a punitive tax seems counterproductive, to say the least. (Published in The Vancouver Sun)
The unfortunate truth is that there is no one fix or solution available that will improve the overall housing environment in BC. (Published on Daily Hive)
BCREA is calling for amendments to BC’s short-term rental laws to mitigate the disruption they’ve caused for business and tourism sectors across the province.
The lead-up to the BC election is officially underway and BCREA would like to outline the details of the pre-election campaign we are launching.
Ahead of the 2024 Provincial General Election, BCREA has launched a housing policy resource hub intended to help British Columbians make informed decisions at the polls.
Provincial targets clash with municipal planning as the rapid pace of development leaves infrastructure and livability in the dust. (Published on Business in Vancouver)
What’s at stake in the 2024 provincial election and what do British Columbians need on the housing file from the next government? (Published in Real Estate Magazine)