Top Three Housing
Helpers?
We've taxed, banned, regulated and choked housing from happening. Politicians and pundits as well as academics who who don't build housing blamed "flippers, foreign buyers, short-term rental providers and speculators" which drove the popular public and media discourse.
Ironically, Canadians regularly watch many popular home-flipping shows on HGTV, subsidized by our provincial and federal government tax credits. Canadians are also the largest source of foreign buyers of US real estate. Think snowbirds who own condos down south.
-
Political promises of hundreds of thousands of new housing targets were just clever public relations spin. The truth? The numbers of new homes actually built were woefully inadequate compared to the millions of people invited here annually through mass immigration, much higher than any G7 country.
-
And Canada is now building even fewer homes. Toronto new homes under construction are the lowest in 30 years. Many housing projects (thousands of "approved" homes) in Metro Vancouver won't get built, or went into receivership.
Below are three top solutions, proven to tackle housing challenges.
Top Three Quick Picks
Approve Housing Faster
Time Costs Money.
​
-
Governments talk about "speeding up" approval processes then add even more regulations, like "green building" that multiply costs by millions. California just froze new building code regulations for SIX YEARS.
-
Mandate municipal housing approval times to weeks, not years. Longer approval times mean higher (carrying) costs for builders of about eight to 10% a year, such as mortgage interest, annual property taxes, insurance, professional consultants, labour, etc. Some builders even pay "empty homes taxes" for boarded up, rat-infested dwellings on a site awaiting demolition and building permits for apartments.
-
More solutions here. ​​​
Reduce Fees/Taxes
Taxes and Fees are Demolishing Housing Plans
​
-
Reduce taxes, fees and red tape on home builders and rental providers, which are demolishing housing targets and political goals across Canada. Did you know the federal government charges builders GST on rental housing with a complex set of rules to apply for partial rebates? Just remove GST entirely. Magic will happen.
-
Try tax incentives instead. Proof: Kelowna built thousands of new rental homes and lowered rents with a 10-year property tax exemption.
Brampton says it will reduce fees up to 100% to stimulate rental home building. More solutions here.
Remove Rent Controls
Rent controls prevent new home building and limit repairs to older apartments.​
Remove rent controls (government-set caps on annual rent increases) for new apartments. Alberta has none, meaning higher vacancy rates (more choice) and lower rents. A healthy vacancy rate is 3% or above. National vacancy rates for secured rental apartments (purpose-built) range from about 1% to 2%.
-
Quebec and Ontario removed some rent controls. This stimulates new building and helps rental providers keep up with rising property repair costs, insurance premiums & taxes that grossly exceed government rental increase limits.
-
Proof? A respected survey of economists on the left and right of political spectrum agree rent controls are destructive. Ninety-three per cent agreed rent controls impact the "quantity and quality of housing" available.
-
A Toronto-based public policy analyst studied Sweden's rent control disaster where tenants wait as long as 14 years for an apartment. Assar Lindbeck, Stockholm University economics professor famously noted: “In many cases, rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.”
More solutions here.
