Gregor Craigie, Author & part-time wind breaker model, comes up with no less than 37 ideas for fixing housing issues in Canada. Drawing from projects and initiatives that have worked to some degree in other countries he gives us a plethora of options to choose from.
Some of these ideas have already been implemented by our current governments:
Limit Short Term rentals and police the practice.
Penalize property speculators. Tax vacant properties.
Get rid of Single Family Zoning.
Ban foreign ownership.
Set up home savings plan for first time buyers.
Here are a few of the ones that I found most interesting:
#4 - Reinvest in housing coops. This style of housing needs renewed investment. Copy Germany where they have 5% of total housing stock set as Co-op.
#10 - Federal Government should increase tax exemptions to builders who build more affordable homes.
#14 - Have “off the shelf” housing designs available to all property owners - ones that are already pre-approved by the city and for zoning and other bylaws
#15 - Hold design competitions to architects and designers to compete for the design mention above.
#17 - Build housing for essential workers like nurses and firefighters and develop rental and purchase discounts to they can live in the communities were they work. dedicated rentals, exclusives properties
#21 - Consider establish rent control in-between tenancies - implement a cap
#25 - Provincial Govt - guaranteed permitting time frames - or they get penalized for the delays.
#34 - Beneficial owners can be registered directly on title.
Of all the ideas above - I love the ideas #14 & #15: coming up with a new Vancouver Special for the future. The idea of having ready made approved building plans makes a lot of sense. As you might know - I tour a lot of houses and many of the new builds are very similar in layout and function and only deviate in finishes. So why not have a few off the shelf plans ready to roll.
As we head into a Provincial Election on October 19th and a Federal one the following year. Housing affordability will for sure be a topic of discussion. I’m hoping to see some other innovative approaches to solving these issues.
