Townhouses under construction are seen in Delta, B.C., on Aug. 12.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
For more than a year, the BC NDP government has been riding municipalities hard with demands they meet targets for increasing housing and comply with new density requirements. The approach has been heavy on the stick with few carrots.
But in an election campaign against a surprise opponent that is polling at a dead heat, in part on a promise of tearing up dozens of the NDP’s housing policies, Premier David Eby this week announced a few new policies that suggested he’s hoping to catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
His party’s platform said an NDP government would “encourage” municipalities to build more rental housing with a new infrastructure fund tied to housing starts. The party also promises a unique new form of renter insurance for landlords, adding to another sweetener the province announced earlier, forgivable loans of up to $40,000 to help people create basement suites.
The infrastructure fund appears to mimic one part of the BC Conservatives’ housing positions, which pledges that cities that “prezone” for more density will get bonus payments to pay for the sewers, water pipes, and other services that will be needed.
During the 23 months of Mr. Eby’s premiership, the NDP has taken one of the most aggressive approaches on the continent to increasing housing supply, copying policies around the world from South Korea to California to Washington state. But his more conciliatory tone during the election campaign appears to be an acknowledgment that some of his policies, the swift timelines and his government’s directive approach has caused upheaval in some cities and anger in others.
The NDP promised in 2017 to build 114,000 new affordable homes within 10 years. The number of units reported to have been completed in 2023 was 74,668, but half of those were homes freed up as a result of the province’s tax on empty homes, and new rules that force the councils of condo buildings to eliminate restrictions on rentals, as well as other changes that were about policy, not dollars for building.
(The NDP’s election platform calls for the tax on vacant second properties to increase to 1 per cent of assessed value for Canadian owners from the current 0.5 per cent. For foreign property owners, the tax will increase to 3 per cent from 1.5 per cent.)
According to statistics from BC Housing, the province registered 240,229 new homes from 2018 to 2023, ranging from 43,000 to 53,000 a year except for the peak pandemic year.
That’s about a quarter of what was completed in all of Canada, which saw between 187,000 and 222,000 units completed a year from 2019 to 2022.
But some civic politicians in B.C. have complained, saying the increased density requirements don’t take into account what fits well into city neighbourhoods and ignore how cities are supposed to pay for the new services needed. Many residents in established neighbourhoods are dismayed at what they see as the province forcing massive density down their throats.
The BC Conservatives have capitalized on those resentments, promising to make sure cities retain their autonomy and saying they will roll back many of the new initiatives – though it’s not clear which ones.
As part of Mr. Eby’s efforts to tackle housing problems, the former housing minister had introduced legislation forcing municipalities with a population of over 5,000 to allow multiplexes – housing with four or six units – anywhere in a residential area.
The Landing condo development is seen under construction in Langley, B.C., on Dec. 10, 2018. According to statistics from BC Housing, the province registered 240,229 new homes from 2018 to 2023, ranging from 43,000 to 53,000 a year except for the peak pandemic year.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The province has mandated that cities allow towers of 10, 12 and eight stories within certain distances of transit hubs. It has created a government agency, BC Builds, to develop housing on government land.
There have been tweaks to the system to get public colleges and universities to build student housing; much stricter regulations for short-term-vacation rentals, changes to the Building Code that will require developers to integrate new requirements for earthquake protection, adaptability of units for people with disabilities, a new requirement that landlords give three or four months’ notice to tenants if they are selling or moving in a family member, and a ban on the sale of gas furnaces and water heaters by 2030.
“I’m putting a lot of political capital on the spot of the wheel that says ‘Build more housing,’” Mr. Eby said. “And I think it’s going to pay off because I think that is an urgent need for people. I think they are willing to endure some inconvenience.”
Jon Stovell, president of development company Reliance Properties, approves of many of the NDP initiatives, but said the government’s demands are driving up costs.
At the same time, he said the BC Conservative’s housing policy has contradictions, for example, promising to force cities to issue development and building permits on very short timelines seems counter to the promise to let cities run themselves.
Randy Helten is a spokesman for a citizens group, CityHallWatch, which has frequently opposed Vancouver’s policies to increase density. He described the NDP’s efforts as a “top-down, autocratic approach featuring provincial overreach into municipal zoning authority.” Mr. Helten instead praised the BC Conservatives’ promise to co-operate with municipalities.
Alex Hemingway, at the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said the NDP has been “a leader across the country” with its housing efforts: “They’ve thrown almost everything at the wall here.”
If anything, said Mr. Hemingway, the NDP hasn’t gone quite far enough by allowing municipalities a fair amount of wiggle room in complying with the new density requirements.
At Abundant Housing Vancouver, a pro-housing group, spokesman Peter Waldkirch said the NDP plan “strikes the right balance.” The Conservatives, he said, are focused mainly on creating market housing, and the Green Party is mainly devoted to social-housing units, promising $1.5-billion a year for 25,000 units a year.
Trevor Hargreaves, vice-president at the B.C. Real Estate Association, said one of the main differences between the NDP and the Conservatives’ pledges on housing is summed up by their relationship to municipalities. The NDP are directing municipal processes and targets, while the BC Conservatives have pledged to incentivize, with supports and resources.
But he said both platforms lack details. And he added, like others, that the Conservatives’ promise of some kind of tax credit based on housing costs is little more than a deficit-financed tax cut that has nothing to do with housing.
Mr. Hargreaves said the NDP tax cut seemed better designed.
“This is a much more efficient way of returning money to households than the BC Conservatives convoluted housing tax credit scheme.”