Necessary minimum building targets may soon be implemented to address the province鈥檚 housing supply crisis.

That鈥檚 the belief of Jon Stovell, Chair of the Urban Development Institute Pacific Region (UDIPR). Stovell told a luncheon in 琉璃神社 on May 30 that he expects that Minister Responsible for Housing, David Eby, could bring forth legislation this fall after the municipal elections.

鈥淭hat for municipalities that can鈥檛 get the job done, there will be targets or other mandated requirements which will make it essentially a legal requirement to approve the necessary amount of housing to serve a growing population,鈥� added Stovell. 鈥淭his is something I thought I would never see in my life.鈥�

For municipalities that don鈥檛, Stovell expects they are going to end up seeing some of their decision-making powers eroded significantly.

鈥淎fter deeply exploring and taxing all the least obvious solutions for housing affordability, the NDP has decided that supply is an issue,鈥� he said.

Stovell added that the institute has been meeting monthly with Minister Eby over the last year.

鈥淲e made a presentation to the NDP caucus on why supply is important, and why developers are critical in the execution and delivery of necessary housing.鈥�

Read More: Housing minister, municipal governments at odds over B.C. housing supply report

UDIPR polling found about 65 per cent of British Columbians surveyed felt that supply is one of the biggest problems in housing affordability and that municipalities are a significant part of why that supply is a problem.

鈥淭here has been a shift in public sentiment,鈥� said Stovell.

He added that the province has not gotten off without criticism from industry either, with the two most notable bottlenecks being the ministries of Environment and Transportation.

鈥淭hey can become serious impediments to development in terms of overall permission and on the timeline side of things,鈥� said Stovell. 鈥淚t can take six to eight months to get approval in principle from the Ministry of Environment. So we鈥檝e gone after them on that.鈥�

The institute is also pressing the province and Eby on construction costs, labour shortages, supply chain issues and interest rates.

鈥淲hich he really doesn鈥檛 have a lot of direct ability to control, but there are things they can do. So we鈥檙e taking advantage of our relationship with the minister to try and get him educated about those issues as well.鈥�

Read More: Budget 2022: Feds add measures to curb speculation as housing supply gets $10B boost

gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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