Advocacy

Housing Affordability

Housing affordability is an ongoing concern for many British Columbians across the province. Home ownership is an increasing challenge with a variety of regional and national factors at play. BCREA puts significant resources into analysis and recommendations for government to help foster a healthy housing market for consumers and REALTORS^®.

We maintain an ongoing dialogue with the BC Government on the following recommendations:

• Ensure fairness and effectiveness in provincial property taxes and coordination with federal approaches.
• Make evidence-based policy decisions.
• Support policies that increase housing supply.
• Promote best practices among local governments.
• Ensure the Residential Tenancy Act is effective and balances the rights of landlords and tenants.

Real Estate Practice

Everyone wins when we have a regulatory environment that provides strong consumer protection and reflects the dynamic reality of the real estate profession.

BCREA believes changes to the practice of real estate must be made with care so consumers and REALTORS^® can have confidence in real estate transactions. We urge the provincial government to:

• Enhance the ability of REALTORS^® to serve consumer needs.
• Create a regulatory system for REALTORS^® that is stable, efficient and gives REALTORS^® a voice.
• Work with different levels of government and other provinces to develop a comprehensive, sensible and effective anti-money laundering approach.

Provincial Flood Protection

Flood risk has the strong potential to increase in coming years due to climate predictions calling for increased levels of precipitation in more frequent and more intense weather events.

Flooding poses catastrophic risks to BC’s economic vitality, safety, environment, property owners and communities. BCREA’s flood protection work focuses on floodplain mapping, a strong role for the provincial government and education for REALTORS^® and their clients.

BCREA recommends the BC Government:

• Assume a central role of leadership on this issue, working with local and federal governments, to ensure floodplain maps are updated and remain current.
• Ensure sufficient provincial government expertise and capacity to implement flood mitigation initiatives.

Remediation of Properties Used to Produce Drugs

With the recent federal legalization of cannabis use in Canada, issues associated with properties used in drug production are increasingly complex.

When a property has been involved in drug production (even just four cannabis plants), it can pose serious health and safety risks to the public resulting from mould, chemicals thrown out in the backyard, electrical fires and invasion by criminals looking for drugs, even if the property is no longer being used for drug production.

It’s important for members of the public to know if a property they’re interested in living in was ever identified as having a history of drug production.

Unfortunately, there’s no consistency across the province in how municipalities make this information available, nor is there a provincial standard of remediation for buildings used to produce drugs.

We’re calling on the BC Government to show leadership on this issue. Specifically, we ask the province to:

• Develop a consistent process to remediate buildings used in drug production to ensure they are safe.
• Ensure that all local governments implement the new uniform remediation policies and practices.