THE SIMPLE MATH IS IGNORED – The math is simple, we don’t have enough supply.
Our Federal Government is opening our country to more immigration all the time and people move to BC from all over Canada, yet we are not keeping up with housing demand.
Vancouver is a city where everyone wants to live.
We have not built the supply in previous years to keep up with demand.
We especially need more family-sized homes/units.
THE ROOT CAUSE IS UNADDRESSED – We have tried to fix all the side issues without treating the root cause.
We have a foreign buyer’s tax.
We cracked down on money laundering,
We added the vacancy tax for all the empty homes,
We added the speculation tax,
We’ve even brought in modular housing…
None of it has worked because we are not fixing the root cause, which is we don’t have enough homes – especially rental homes. That is what the NPA team will fix.
We need the private sector to get involved to solve this problem. The government alone can’t build the housing we need. Right now home builders are leaving Vancouver and that is making our housing crisis worse.
Council unanimously passed an NPA motion for affordable home ownership in 2015, yet nothing has been done, but an NPA majority on Council will deliver affordable homeownership.
PRIVATE SECTOR RENTAL IS NOT CURRENTLY VIABLE – We need the private sector to build rental housing.
Because we have so restricted the rental providers from building and operating in Vancouver due to our taxes and regulations, only luxury condos get built. Local investors then buy these condos because they can charge anything for rent with the purpose-built rental market so constrained. We need to incentivize rental buildings to end this cycle.
THE SOLUTION
1. MANDATED PERMIT WAIT TIMES – We will implement mandated maximum permit wait times for home construction and building construction.
– The fact it takes 7 years to build a rental building in our city is egregious.
– We will cut red tape for home builders.
– We will look at digital permitting solutions and other municipalities in the region, where permit timelines are short such as the City of North Vancouver.
2. SUPPLY TARGETS – We will set supply targets for housing based on immigration numbers – Not ideas or ideologies
– This will include supply targets for rental, workforce housing for middle-class Vancouverites and affordable home ownership.
– We will incentivize the private sector to build the various types of housing we need. Government can not build enough housing to get us out of this crisis.
– We will partner with senior levels of government to ensure the greatest investment possible in Vancouver, especially for ‘missing middle’ housing.
– We will work with financial providers to set targets for a first-time home buyers program.
– We will pre-zone our supply targets where possible to end the building-by-building battles at City Hall currently draining resources from both the city council and home builders.
3. FLAT RATE COMMUNITY AMENITY CONTRIBUTIONS (CACs) – We will implement flat rate CAC’s so home builders have certainty.
– There will be a lower-rate CAC for rental buildings so they are economically viable.
– Rental housing will effectively be treated as a CAC in and of itself. CACs will reflect market conditions at a fixed price per square foot so home builders have certainty.
– Fixed-rate CACs will help restore public trust between residents, home builders, city staff and elected officials.
4. TRANSIT HUBS – We will create vibrant communities around transit hubs.
– We will ensure vibrant communities will include 24-hour childcare centres in rental buildings.
-We will ensure community amenities such as pools, parks and childcare are invested in along with new development.
