B.C.’s Housing Supply Act could solve our dire situation
High demand and prices have led the government to take matters into its own hands
B.C.'s Housing Supply Act could play a vital role in solving the province's housing crisis. (Unsplash/Breno Assis)
Housing is in high demand, yet there’s low supply in the Lower Mainland. Basic economics dictates that in such a situation, prices skyrocket, and they most certainly have in British Columbia.
It has been a decades-long trend with no end in the foreseeable future. Unsurprisingly, this has made homeownership a fantasy for many who do not have the means to buy a house or lot and subsequently mortgage it. Legislation passed by the B.C. government is now seeking to remedy this problem.
The Housing Supply Act was passed in November 2022 and seeks to mitigate our housing crisis. Under this legislation, the provincial government can set housing construction goals for municipalities to reach in a timely manner. The B.C. government can directly intervene to approve projects and amend zoning bylaws should municipalities fall behind schedule.
The basic idea is simple: Get towns and cities to quicken the pace by addressing local barriers to construction. A list of 10 cities and district municipalities that need to ramp up housing projects has been named, with plans to expand that list by another eight to 10 later this year.
Abbotsford, Delta, Kamloops, North Vancouver, Oak Bay, Port Moody, Saanich, Vancouver, Victoria, and West Vancouver make up the initial listed cities. The actual targets, according to the Ministry of Housing, have yet to be declared.
This legislation is much needed. Municipalities in our province have had a spotty track record of keeping up with housing demands. Oftentimes they fall short by relying too heavily on population trends, failing to recognize how a lack of available housing can skew results, and zoning laws that restrict the building of multiplexes in single-family residential lots. In rapidly growing, high-density metropolitan regions, construction must go upwards, not outwards. Fixing what has gone wrong necessitates rapid material action and the Housing Supply Act could be step one of many to ensure a liveable and affordable B.C.
All this being said, there are a few gripes that need to be addressed if this province wishes to achieve its broader goals. One criticism has to do with the 10 chosen municipalities, namely that many smaller communities are on the so-called “naughty list.” It is a valid query. When you think of housing issues, you mentally default to cities and larger towns, so why include smaller places?
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in a Vancouver Sun article that it would be unfair to place responsibility solely on larger communities, thus creating a need to balance the scales. Some policy analysts suggest that, by putting these 10 cities on official notice and then promising to add more later. Therefore, all the unlisted municipalities will be on alert.
Another worthwhile concern is that of affordable housing. The word “affordability” appears only once in Part Two, Section 2(1) of the Act wherein the Minister of Housing has the power to determine the affordability of housing targets. Low-income housing is not off the table, but how much is on the table remains unknown.
It would be nice if there were a more concrete idea of how many of these accelerated housing projects will be designated for low-income people, but this ambiguity might be necessary. Municipalities might get prickly if the legislation had codified exact numbers or percentages of affordability targets.
The Eby government has passed a strong piece of legislation, and now it has to show it is able to act. It is all too common for the bark to be worse than the bite. British Columbians have been burned by the housing market far too many times for too long. It is now or never for the government to keep housing a reality in B.C.
