Housing report touts solutions to BC affordability

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A group of housing activists wants Ottawa, the next provincial government and the community housing sector to spend $1.8 billion every year for the next decade to address affordability in British Columbia.

A report entitled “An Affordable Housing Plan for BC” was unveiled by the BC Rental Housing Coalition on Monday and details the group’s 10-year plan to address homelessness and affordability.

“This is expensive, but it’s affordable, and what I think this report will show is the cost of inaction is far more expensive than action,” BC Non-Profit Housing Association CEO Kishone Roy says. He adds the report was released a day before the provincial election campaign begins in the hope BC politicians make housing a centrepiece of their platforms.

The report estimates there is a backlog of 80,000 rental units. Using current rental housing data along with provincial growth projects and the recent homeless count, the group estimates 7,000 new units must be built each year to catch up with housing demand, 2,350 of which must be for low-income households.

Preserving and updating existing rental stock must also be a priority, Roy says.

The group also wants governments to subsidise renters if what they pay in rent is above the recommended 30 per cent of their gross income, and create a renters grant, similar to the homebuyers grant.

“We believe that just the $81 million a year that we recommend be invested in homeless will save $177 million a year in the rising costs associated with homelessness,” Roy says. “We also believe this will be a substantial contribution to Canada’s GDP and create billions in disposable income.”

In the 2017 federal budget, the Liberal government pledged $11.2 billion for affordable housing across Canada over 11 years. But what Finance Minister Bill Morneau called the “largest single commitment” in the budget, would still likely fall well below the expectations of the group’s plan.

Other recommendations include the creation of an independent Co-investment Fund institution to give favourable financing and non-profit lending to community housing for investors and developers to incentivise building.

The plan also calls for developing homeless financial supports including a housing-first strategy, aligning housing policies with health, transportation, justice and child welfare and considering the needs for indigenous peoples.

The plan is supported by 11 housing and financial interest groups.

“Everyone has a role to play in this; the government, the private sector, the community sector,” Co-operative Housing Federation’s Thom Armstrong says. “For so long we’ve all played the blame game… I think we all agree that it’s time for that to stop and we’re trying to play a constructive role in that.”

David Hutniak from LandlordBC also said the government must focus on policies that promote construction, including municipal density bonuses, remove development barriers, fast track applications, rebate sales and remove or reduce GST on construction supplies, labour and land.

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