BC prepares to tackle housing costs, look into improper real estate conduct

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Liberal government is promising better opportunities for buyers to get into the housing market, but warns there is no single solution to soaring prices in some communities.

In a throne speech read today in the legislature by Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon, the government says housing will be a key focus of its political agenda for the coming months.

The new session of the legislature also begins amid questions about the conduct of some real estate agents in Metro Vancouver taking advantage of the area’s hot market by allegedly re-selling houses multiple times to increase final prices and their commissions.

The province says it will look into any allegations of improper behaviour in the housing market and take action where it’s appropriate.

Some housing experts are hoping the province’s promise to focus on housing affordability will lead to real change rather than political posturing.

Metro Vancouver’s unaffordable real estate market has become impossible for the provincial government to ignore according to Thomas Davidoff with UBC’s Sauder School of Business. “You’ve got to have a sign that says ‘Mission Accomplished.’ So they’re going to say they’re going to look into affordability, they’re going to offer a couple of things to buyers which are just going to inflate prices and cause higher taxes on everybody else which does nothing for affordability. They can’t do nothing. They can’t have a speech without talking about housing because it’s the issue that’s on everybody’s mind.”

Help for buyers is mentioned in the speech, but nothing about taxing vacant home owners or flippers.

Davidoff isn’t optimistic the province is planning a working strategy. “If you don’t add supply that just gets passed on to prices. If it’s only for first-time buyers and nothing for everybody else, you give a little bit of benefit to people who can already afford to buy a house and you raise taxes on everybody else. How that increases affordability is not at all clear and I think they’re aware of that.”

Davidoff says a tax on vacant homes would allow everyone to benefit from the overwhelming foreign demand for Vancouver homes.

Meanwhile, the government also says it plans to offer farmers tax credits to donate their food to non-profit organizations, and it is promising legislation to modernize community care and assisted living.

The government says it will continue to push the development of an export industry for liquefied natural gas, despite slow downs due to global conditions.

Other items covered in the throne speech include the promise not to give up on liquefied natural gas, despite global conditions, which have caused challenges for the province’s initial timeline. The technology and agriculture sectors have been emphasized in the speech.

The Ministry of Children and Families also gets a nod, with the province saying it will announce further support for at risk kids and hire more social workers.