BC NDP: Home ownership at 40% off, province-wide
25,000 homes over five years
Press release from the BC NDP, last Wednesday. The plan is being called “Opening Doors to Homeownership.”
NDP unveils plan to subsidize 25,000 new homes across B.C. Glen Korstrom, Business in Vancouver.
The NDP plans to take province-wide an arrangement it unveiled last week for the Heather Lands in Vancouver. The result could be up to 25,000 new homes within five years if the party wins the next election, B.C. Premier David Eby said today at a soggy news conference in Surrey.
The cost to taxpayers would be up to $1.29 billion per year, he added.
Eby suggested last week that his party wanted to expand the initiative province-wide so today's announcement was no surprise.
The policy proposal sees provincial government subsidizing 40 per cent of newly built homes for selected first-time home buyers who are currently renting. Those home buyers would front 60 per cent of the home's cost with the province covering the rest. The home buyer would then pay the province back for its financing of 40 per cent of the home's market value when the home is sold.
While the arrangement on the Heather Lands was in partnership with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, the NDP's plan to roll out the same kind of home-subsidization structure across the province would be done in partnership with municipalities and other First Nations.
Includes comments by Thomas Davidoff:
He said he believes the NDP will be able to easily find demand from potential home owners for the kind of subsidized home-owning arrangement that they are touting.
"I don't think it's crazy to think that, on average, the province will probably break even," Davidoff said.
"I think the private sector would demand a bigger risk premium, very likely. So I think this is a good deal for borrowers, and, in that way, a bad deal for taxpayers. But 20 or 30 years from now, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the province actually winds up breaking even or making money."
Previously: Home ownership at a 40% discount in the Heather Lands.
On Davidoff's point: Just because it's a good deal for borrowers doesn't mean it's a bad deal for taxpayers. Metro Vancouver has a huge problem with essential workers not being able to afford housing near where they work. This program isn't perfect but it's good for the economy if more of those workers have cost stability and actual housing options within the city.