In June, VRBA provided several recommendations to BC’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services to assist housing supply and affordability.
The BC Budget Consultation committee released their report last week after receiving 350 presentations and 406 written submissions.
VRBA’s past recommendations included:
- rezoning for small multi’s;
- reducing the Property Transfer Tax.
We have contributed to improving BC housing policies in some areas, but much more needs to be done.
This year, our recommendations include:
- Capping development cost charges (DCCs) and amenity agreements which make many projects unaffordable to build;
- More unified and consistent regional planning for housing and infrastructure in the CRD;
- More uniform building code regulations in BC for improved consistency, certainty and housing affordability.
As a result, the committee report recommends support for “regional planning and review development cost structures to allow for reduced or flexible fees…”
This is similar to a recent municipal report recommending a review of DCC programs, costs and benefits to lessen their impact on housing costs.
The rising costs of DCCs and other fees are having an adverse impact on new housing. A review along with reduced and flexible fees would assist both housing affordability and supply.
VRBA could offer more housing recommendations, however addressing the construction costs such as DCCs would be a significant step forward.
Most importantly, the committee consultation is a useful process to deliver real-world housing challenges to elected officials. The committee’s report publicly reflects those challenges and recommended solutions.
It is now up to the provincial government, in cooperation with municipalities, to address the challenges and help improve housing affordability.
This column appears Wednesdays in the Times Colonist.
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