BCGEU Calls For Housing Policy Reform

The British Columbia Government Employee and Services Union (BCGEU) recently released its official housing policy, which focuses on the perceived shortage of affordable housing caused by issues such as foreign investment, inflation, and speculation predicated on an incomplete analysis of the local demographic and market trends.

Paul Finch—a representative of the BCGEU—says that he believes “we are experiencing the outgrowth of an offshore housing bubble to rival that of 2008,” and that the impact of this foreign capital on our domestic housing market is a dangerously volatile element that must be curtailed in order to house the province’s citizens.

He stresses that the BCGEU feels that the “existing high density housing stock is more than sufficient to meet current demand, and the primary issue with affordability is not one of real supply, but speculation.”

The plan includes various measures such as implementing a provincial Land Value Capture Tax to curb speculation, the addition of a “surcharge” to the existing Foreign Buyers Tax enacted by the former provincial government, and the closing of Property Transfer Tax loopholes frequently utilized by the upper and middle classes. It also aims to strengthen price controls on the private rental market and mandate construction of subsidized low-income housing. For this, developers and luxury home-buyers in the private sector would share the responsibility of footing the bill.

As a case study, Finch references the impact of the Evergreen Line Corridor on housing and rent prices in the surrounding area.

“The acquisition of wealth by the commodification of private real estate is immoral; particularly in cases where we are demolishing low-rise poor houses to make way for ivory towers that no one will ever be able to afford to live in,” he says. “Most wealthy people are just going to drive anyway, so if the public is going to support the development of this infrastructure, it’s only sensible to ensure that people living around it are of a calibre that would utilize it effectively.”

The BCGEU’s proposed policies come in spite of projections that the province’s population will grow by 600,000 over the next decade, with much of that growth taking place in the Lower Mainland.

Finch doubts that “the plan [will] address the perceived future supply problem.” He acknowledges that, “as population grows, demand for housing stock will inevitably rise,” but believes that it is still possible for housing demand to be met in the future.

While the housing policy debate remains ongoing, the BCGEU is confident that the Premier’s office will take their proposals under consideration when drafting the government’s official regional housing policy plan.