Vancouver mayor’s proposal to put local home buyers first goes to council today

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Vancouver’s mayor wants to give locals the first shot at pre-sale condos, and he’s taking his idea to council today.

One councilor who says he will be fighting to make this happen is Kerry Jang; he says he’s seen developers sell condos to their relatives, who would turn around and re-sell those homes at a higher rate.

“People are sitting out in lawn chairs, lined-up for days, waiting just to get a crack at it, only to be disappointed when they get there that it’s already sold,” he says. “If we can get developers to say Vancouverites first, locals first, well that’s great.”

He says council still needs to work out how they would enforce a “locals first” policy. The motion plans to build 72,000 new homes over 10 years.

A statement from the Mayor’s office defines a “local” as someone who lives and works in Metro Vancouver and their place of work is in the region, regardless of their citizenship.

It adds that the development industry tells the city one thing, more than 90 per cent of pre-sales already go to local buyers, but people are telling council the opposite, homes are snapped-up before they even hit the market.

Jang says the development industry will just chase profits when left to their own devices. “But in talking to a number of developers, with some guidance, you can get them to do things to help local people out more,” he continues. “‘Charity begins at home’, is the old saying.”

Last month, we reported that the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is $2,020 a month, the highest in Canada.

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