Near-market home owners will now be able to sell their homes at market price after five years of ownership, not 20, thanks to a bylaw change by council last Monday.
At their recent meeting, Osoyoos Town council voted to amend the Town’s Housing Agreement Bylaw, which included a 20-year purchase commitment before being able to sell at market price.
“The developer brought to Council’s attention that the initial program had a 20-year purchase commitment prior to being able to be sold at a market price,” the report to council from Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko said.
“This 20-year commitment was a barrier to the sale of home to eligible buyers because it was difficult for people to accept such a long-term commitment.”
The problem was originally brought forward in April when developer Hart Buckendahl of Ellcar Construction shared the difficulty in selling the four subsidized, near-market homes in Meadowlark Subdivision.
He said that because owners only took a small percentage of the profits if they didn’t own the home for 20 years, buyers were more hesitant.
“That’s a long time and nobody really wants to commit for such a long time,” he told the Osoyoos Times at the time.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said changing the bylaw was “self explanatory” on Monday.
“Moving it from 20 years to five years makes more sense.”
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Osoyoos Times
