Richard Stewart: The Aspiring Homeowner's Burden
Coquitlam mayor on the costs piled onto first-time homebuyers
The Aspiring Homeowner’s Burden: How government policy makes first-time buyers pay for population growth and societal goals. Richard Stewart, August 9. Reposted by the Homebuilders Association of Vancouver.
It’s common for municipal officials to argue that costs don’t affect prices, so I thought this post by Richard Stewart (long-serving mayor of Coquitlam and former president of CHBA BC) was remarkable. He discusses the cost of the Zero Carbon Step Code, water conservation requirements, new accessibility requirements in the BC Building Code, Development Cost Charges for infrastructure, and requirements for below-market housing cross-subsidized by higher prices and rents for the market apartments. In each case, long-time homeowners don’t bear the costs - it’s only first-time homebuyers who pay.
He summarizes:
In trying to solve the housing crisis, we’re unintentionally punishing the very people who are already struggling — renters and would-be first-time buyers.
If you already own a home, you’re largely shielded from these costs. You benefit from grandfathered infrastructure, lighter regulations, and rising home values, and you don’t contribute to the subsidies required for the “affordable housing” created through inclusionary zoning. The system protects those already inside and raises the drawbridge on everyone else.
Climate action, accessibility, and public infrastructure are essential. But our current approach loads all those ambitions onto new homes — and by extension, the people least able to afford them. And with these burdens on new housing, it makes many proposed housing projects less viable or even money-losing – exacerbating the housing crisis by further limiting supply, and pushing housing costs higher through scarcity when unviable housing proposals are canceled. This isn’t going to work.
We need to rethink how we fund the services and standards we value. Governments at all levels — especially federal and provincial — must step up with smarter mechanisms to fund infrastructure. The costs of population growth should be shared across the population, not placed squarely on the shoulders of those who don’t own a home.
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An example of the argument that costs don’t affect prices: Comments on July 10 presentation to MVRD finance committee.
Stewart has been quite critical of the recent provincial legislation overriding municipalities to allow multiplexes and transit-oriented development. Op Ed: Collateral Effects of New Provincial Housing Legislation, December 2023. Response by Khelsilem. Reddit thread.
Coquitlam temporarily reduces density bonus charges by 15%. From May 2025.
Inside The City Of Coquitlam As Developers Rush To Get Permits Before DCC Hikes. Howard Chai, Storeys, March 2025.
He's spot on, and courageous to speak up like this. I think more and more municipal politicians are getting it, but it's a political minefield. I'm not sure the Province gets it yet -- that inclusionary zoning puts a tax on renters. Hopefully Minister Boyle sees this reality soon.