Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon will be one of the busiest members of Premier David Eby’s cabinet over the next year. The Delta North MLA is in charge of doing all he can to boost the number of housing units in the province.
The province decided that one of the biggest ways to boost housing starts is to prod municipalities.
The first 10 municipal targets were announced last week, including Kahlon’s home district of Delta.
The idea of setting targets and reducing red tape and zoning restrictions has been floated by numerous politicians in both federal and provincial parliaments. California has set up a similar program, pressuring municipalities to create many more housing units.
There are many obstacles along the way. One of the biggest is the high cost of land, which shows no signs of decreasing in any meaningful way. Another is the built-in delays at the municipal approval level – these bureaucratic systems will not change easily.
Another major challenge is high interest rates. High interest costs do not just affect people with mortgages. They also have a significant effect on developers and builders, who often pay well above prime rate to borrow money to shepherd a project from concept to completion.
There is no doubt that the housing shortage is the number one problem in B.C., and indeed in much of North America. High interest rates and high selling prices make things much worse. The Greater Vancouver area, which from a housing perspective includes areas as far away as Pemberton and Hope, has very high prices, many restrictions on land use (notably the Agricultural Land Reserve) and a very high growth rate.
Delta is being asked to approve 3,607 housing units over the next five years (including this year). The province set targets based on the past rate of approvals, and are asking the 10 municipalities on its first list to boost starts by an average of 38 per cent, based on recent trends.
Delta Mayor George Harvie, who is the former chief administrator of the city, says that the target is achievable. Most other mayors of cities on the list (which includes Vancouver) say the same thing.
Surrey and White Rock are not among the first 10 highlighted by the province, but they are included on a list of 47 municipalities published in June who will be asked to do more. Their turn in the spotlight is coming.
Members of the public are asking all levels of government to make housing a higher priority. High rents, homelessness and short-term vacation rentals are among some of their biggest concerns.
The current provincial government is trying to make some major changes, in the hope that they will lead to significantly more housing.
Expect to see and hear a lot from Kahlon in the coming months.
Frank Bucholtz writes twice a month for Black Press Media.