It's never a good political look to be seen as helping out, or worse, bailing out developers. Developers are about as popular as cyclists who ride through red lights.
Last week, the feds and the BC government botched this housing announcement when they offered minimal details and said that they would step in to buy vacant condos and turn them into affordable housing. According to CMHC , there are around 4,376 completed condominiums sitting vacant in Metro Vancouver.
The reaction to the announcement was immediate: This is the government overtaxing the housing industry into a crisis, and then turning around and giving it a bailout.
Since then, BC Premier David Eby has acknowledged that maybe they should have worked out more of the details before going public. He also clarified that this is about buying "distressed condos" below replacement cost. No developer will, in theory at least, profit from this program.
My knee-jerk reaction is that the private sector should be left to sort itself out unless you believe the answer is "yes" to one or both of the following questions: (1) Is government intervention necessary to prevent systemic risk and contagion in the market, and/or (2) Should our governments be in the business of owning affordable housing?
I'll leave it to you all to form your own opinions.
Cover photo by Albert Stoynov on Unsplash