New single family houses billed as estate cottages and townhouses under construction in an aerial view, in Delta, B.C., on Aug. 12.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Five years ago, a small swell of voices was rising. They demanded an overhaul of the old rules in cities across Canada that restricted the supply of new homes.
Prices to buy and rent had surged but the political response, led by the NDP in British Columbia, focused on trying to tamp down demand with new taxes on speculation. Those were useful but missed the main target.
This space, in two editorials – the first of many – argued the problem was zoning, the rules that allowed only detached homes on most civic land. The reason for change was simple: expensive housing hinders economic growth.
Further, it was deeply unfair to burden younger Canadians with often impossible housing costs, even though earlier generations benefitted from far-lower costs. In recent years as many as 100,000 people aged 25 to 34 in Metro Vancouver resided with their parents. One can guess in most cases this was not a first choice.
The overhaul of housing rules was at first slow to emerge. City councils failed to act. This space and others urged higher levels of government to intervene. Last year, it finally started to happen. The NDP in B.C. led the country with legislation last fall to allow taller buildings without special civic approvals near major transit stations in cities across the province and ended the long reign of detached houses by broadly permitting homes such as fourplexes.
There is still a lot of work to do. The edifice of a lasting housing framework is far from complete. Just look at the ridiculous prices to buy or rent, in Vancouver and across Canada. Small apartment buildings, still banned on most civic land in all Canadian cities, are the essential answer, as this space argued five years ago.
But progress in B.C. is now in jeopardy. The provincial Conservatives are running even in the polls with the NDP, ahead of the Oct. 19 election. The NDP, with seven years in power, have been strong on housing but erratic on other files, such as fiscal management. The provincial budget is on the verge of spiralling out of control.
The Conservative housing plans are misguided. The party says it wants more homes built but its main promise is a tax credit on mortgage interest or rent costs. This will build approximately zero new homes.
The Conservatives then want to demolish some of the housing density rules the NDP put in place. Instead, they would try to cajole cities, with new funding, to achieve the same goals. It is an unneeded delay and returns too much power to cities that have failed to ramp up housing starts. The proposals also veer into far-fetched territory, with talk of “building new towns.” Let’s work on the ones we have, where there is ample space for many more homes.
Under the NDP, housing starts in B.C. climbed to a record. Last year, per capita housing starts in the Vancouver region were two-thirds higher than in the Toronto area. B.C. housing starts this year have dipped about 10 per cent, amid high interest rates, but remain strong. The Conservatives falsely claimed housing starts “are collapsing.” New home construction is 40 per cent higher under the NDP than it was under the previous B.C. Liberal government, in which Conservative Leader John Rustad served from 2005 onward.
An expert analysis suggests the NDP’s housing density legislation could lead to at least 216,000 more new homes over a decade than would have otherwise been built. Let the market do its work and good things will happen.
But of course the NDP want to promise more. It’s election time. They have presented a convoluted scheme to use public land to help people co-own housing with the government. Public land used for housing should focus on rentals and affordable homes, which is the design of the BC Builds program the NDP unveiled early this year.
In an interview with The Globe’s editorial board on Wednesday in Vancouver, NDP Leader David Eby rightly said expensive housing is the root of many problems, from homelessness to employers struggling to find new workers. He said – and this space strongly agrees – housing “requires urgent action.” Asked about some skeptics who feel he is moving too fast, he said: “It’s going to pay off.”
The B.C. NDP are far from perfect. On Thursday, their platform outlined high deficits for several years to come. On housing, however, the NDP’s push for density should be emulated across the country.
It’s a straightforward strategy: let builders build.