ENM Responds to Rental Housing Task Force’s Recommendations

(Newswire.net — December 27, 2018) Langley, BC —

Last week, the B.C. government’s Rental Housing Task Force released its report on the province’s housing crisis, the result of months of panels and consultations with citizens and politicians. The report includes twenty-three recommendations to the province’s legislators for addressing various issues in the housing market.

Our co-founder, Daniel Greenhalgh, joins the Urban Development Institute in commending the Task Force on passing on the policy of vacancy control, an idea that’s recently gained traction amongst tenant advocates in the Lower Mainland. The policy would tie rents to units themselves – a more radical extension of rent control, which ties rents to tenants and their leases.

“If vacancy control were ever passed, I strongly believe it would be the end of our industry as we know it,” says Dan. “Developers would no longer pursue purpose-built rental projects and the crisis of supply would be made much worse.”

Recommendation 10 of the report states, “Maintain rent tied to the renter, NOT THE UNIT.” We’re pleased that the Task Force heeded our warnings against vacancy control. However, the policy of rent control, which has repeatedly failed the most vulnerable populations of cities where it’s been enacted, needs to be abandoned in B.C. if we hope to address the shortage of rental units.

Dan also joins the UDI in expressing concern that the Task Force failed to recommend incentives for the development of purpose-built rental projects. “This issue was consistently among the most urgent of those discussed with the Task Force throughout the summer and fall,” says Dan. “We’re disappointed that they ignored the pressing need for incentives or tax exemptions for developers like us at ENM who want to increase the supply of purpose-built rental units.”

The UDI sent clear recommendations to the government for incentivizing purpose-built rental projects. These include exemptions on property transfer and property taxes, as well as rebates on PST, for these projects. We at ENM believe that these proposals, if enacted, would have a dramatic effect on the crisis of rental supply in the Lower Mainland.

 

(Newswire.net — December 27, 2018) Langley, BC —