Affordable housing requires political courage, experts say

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Housing analysts say state policies are starting to increase housing supplies, but they need political courage to do what they say needs to happen next: allowing for more densities. To do.

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“Liberals bring in foreign buyer taxes, NDP bring in speculative taxes, and they are working,” said Andyan, a city planning expert and director of the city program at Simon Fraser University.

“For the first time, in 2021, we broke the ever-increasing proportion of vacant homes.”

Nevertheless, house prices continue to rise. On Wednesday, the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Commission released figures showing that the weighted average price of single-family homes in the Metro is $ 2 million and the average townhouses reach $ 1 million.

More homes have been built in the last three years than in any of the last three years.

Experts say the problem lies in the type of housing under construction.

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Tom Davidoff, economist and associate professor at the UBC Sauder School, said: Of business.

“You have this amazing real estate, and only one lucky family can use it. Nowadays, the wealthiest people don’t have to compete with apartment buildings for land, so it’s a detached house. Zoning is a subsidy. It’s crazy. “

Housing Minister David Evie suggests that a new law will be introduced this fall aimed at densifying and speeding up the development process.

Both Jan and Davidoff agree that it is a good sign, but beware of the Minister about exercising that power.

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Davidoff said he would support a law that would allow more homes to be built automatically on current single-family home plots, but did not agree to have developers build submarket homes.

“Let people build homes for those who are willing to pay the most for it, and use the money from upzoning to fund other housing aids,” he said. ..

“Receive the amount charged to the upzone and redistribute it to those who need it most. One wins the grand prize for an affordable housing unit and the other wins a lottery with nothing. When held, it’s like a kind of Hunger Games. “

Davidoff and Yan agree that the state needs to build infrastructure such as transportation, water and sewerage systems to support the increase in density, but Yan also needs to spend on submarket housing. Claims.

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“Two-thirds of Vancouver’s building applications last year were affordable to only 40% of the population, indicating that significant reinvestment in non-market housing construction is needed,” Yan said. Says.

“The market isn’t ready to accommodate its population, so the state needs to take this into account. It’s where things like cooperating with official community planning legislation can make a difference. OCPs need housing components centered around revenue-based local median revenues. “

Eby has ordered the municipality to prepare a housing needs report. The next step is to create a plan to secure housing for everyone. Mr Yang said the minister needs to strike a balance between imposing new rules and working with local governments.

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“Housing policy is a team sport,” said Yang. “It’s important to work with local governments to provide federal funding, but do we need to consider local priorities? Interventions and prioritization of needs are needed.”

Analysts believe that it takes courage to carry out everything Eby decides.

“If you live in a single-family home and want to stay quiet, politicians have the courage to let their neighbors build or cut down trees to build a path that obstructs their view, which will make life worse. Do it, “said Davidoff.

“Fortunately, there are so many millennials who are so frustrated with the status quo that I don’t think the parties can sit in their hands.”