rentalhousing
premises readily exceeds coverage provided
by the tenant's damage deposit. Financial
harm may also result when tenants fall into
rent arrears, with unpaid rents and legal costs
sometimes accumulating into the tens of
thousands of dollars.
Rent controls are at best reactionary and
provide a disincentive for homeowners to rent
their home or suite. Limiting cost recovery in
an inflationary environment will be viewed by
many as simply not be worth the risk. Price
controls are not imposed on other private
sectors – so why then impose price controls
on homeowners who are simply trying to
make ends meet in the midst of a housing
affordability crisis?
As we all know, the solution to creating
affordable rental housing is to create more
housing, which should consist of both market
housing and government-built housing
for vulnerable sectors, such as low-income
households. While supply is the answer, there
needs to be an awareness that there is currently
a construction trade shortage in B.C. Any
government focus on building social housing
will strain the already limited supply of skilled
construction trades and drive construction
costs even higher, making it near impossible
for the private development sector to churn
out much needed rental housing.
COMPREhEnSIvE hOuSIng PLAn
By ALL LEvELS Of gOvERnMEnT
ere is a skyrocketing demand for rental
housing, with few incentives for the private
sector to provide it. To fix this problem, the
federal, B.C. and local governments must come
together to develop a comprehensive housing
plan. We recommend that:
n
LocaL governments
.
provide an efficient, fast planning and
approval process for all housing development,
but especially rental housing development;
municipalities should be empowered to
fast-track to development of any Crown
or provincial lands in their municipalities
for rental purposes.
n
the federaL government
.
amend mortgage underwriting
guidelines (B-20) to support the financing
of rental housing by individual investors;
.
create incentives, such as federal income
tax incentives, or fund job skills programs
for the much needed construction trades
to build rental housing in B.C.;
.
taper immigration to allow housing supply,
especially in large urban centres such as
Metro Vancouver and the Capital Regional
District to catch up to demand.
n
the B.c. government
.
remove rent controls contained in the
RTA, or at least, raise the rent increase caps to
enable landlords to capture actual increases
in the cost of providing housing;
.
collaborate with the private sector to
ensure the pace of development doesn't
strain labour or material resources and
fuel increased housing costs it's trying
to prevent.
CMB MAGAZINE cmba-achc.ca summer 2018 | 15