By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
Premier David Eby’s housing affordability plan is being met with some enthusiasm, but a new study finds that seven out of 10 British Columbians think the current government is doing a poor or very poor job on inflation and housing affordability.
Eby has released an aggressive two-pronged approach to BC’s housing crisis with two important bills tabled to address the issue.
This ‘framework,’ as he calls it, is an effort to make already existing homes available to renters, and plan for expansion in the coming years.
The Building Strata Statutes Amendment Act focuses on removing rental restrictions on all stratas, addressing primarily who they can rent too.
Eby claimed this would affect 300,000 existing units, opening up already existing housing to people who need it, such as young families.
“Responding to the housing crisis means not forcing people to move simply because they decide to start a family,” Eby said while also making clear that lifting of restrictions will not touch stratas for seniors, or short-term rentals such as Airbnb’s.
The second part of his plan is the Housing Supply Act that establishes “mutually agreed upon” building targets for municipalities and is intended to be a collaborative approach.
Eby said this framework “puts teeth” into the targets. This gives the Minister of Housing the power to ensure compliance to the targets for new housing developments.
Aimee Grice, Oliver town council member, told the Times Chronicle that there has been no correspondence specific to Oliver yet that she is aware of.
She is happy with the language of cooperation in the bill, but is concerned whenever a “higher level of government wants to create targets without having our intimate community knowledge.”
Grice explained that Oliver has its own unique characteristics and thus requires a nuanced building strategy, including things like “up-zoning, mixed use buildings and infills.” Nuances that would most likely be lost at the provincial level.
The town does have a Housing Needs Report which outlines a five- year period that can be found online. Housing affordability is certainly top of mind for Grice going into January’s strategic planning process, and she is confident there will be a robust discussion.
Mayor of Osoyoos, Sue McKortoff, said there is already lots of interest in building housing units in Osoyoos, and that “550 housing units have already started.”
There are units being built at Peanut Pond and there are rentals that have received the okay to be built on 89th Street to name a few.
McKortoff was confident in the direction that town council is going towards exiting the pandemic stricken years which slowed development, and developing and providing a “mixed housing strategy” for the people of Osoyoos.
One of the priorities for the town is to look at zoning bylaws which are crucial for any housing strategy.
Although she pointed out that “we have to do it carefully, these things take time, and the city has to make sure everything is done carefully and correctly.”
A recent study from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute says at least seven in 10 people say the BC NDP are doing a poor job handling inflation and housing affordability, which people rank as the top issues.
BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau is critical of Eby’s plan because it does not focus on low-income affordable housing or take into account people with disabilities. Kevin Falcon, BC United Leader (formerly BC Liberal Party), voted against both bills, and at the annual Public-Private Partnerships P3 conference in Toronto, Falcon stressed the importance of bringing government and private sector together.
Eby’s new bills on housing follow his newly created Ministry of Housing meant to deal directly with BC’s housing crisis, which Ravi Kahlon has been named Minister.
