Issue 45 May/June 2020

Consultations

The BC Legislature is in session from July 6-31, and from August 10-14.

CHBA BC submitted to two government consultations – The first was the Expert Panel on Housing Supply and Affordability, a BC/Federal initiative, and the second is the BC Budget 2021 consultation. This paper builds on our existing COVID-19 recommendations and includes our longer-term objectives.

Expert Panel on Housing Affordability and Supply

Housing supply is a key source of jobs and economic opportunity – something we must focus on to help support B.C.’s economic recovery. It supports our collective goals to create safe and affordable housing options for British Columbians, also something we know is important with COVID-19.

Several of our recommendations in this document also connect to the provincial Development Approvals Process Review Report (DAPR). These opportunities to improve the development approvals process across British Columbia are for the benefit of both the government and the residential construction industry.

In residential construction, there are thousands of new homes sitting in the approvals process that are “shovel ready” and waiting on the necessary permits. A concentrated focus on advancing development approvals province-wide is good for B.C.’s budget and meeting our needed housing.

COVID-19 forced new approaches to our housing approvals process – we realized we can and could do things differently. We encourage the committee to further invest in this type of innovation and continue to advance new approaches for development approvals in all aspects.

Budget 2020/21 Consultation Submission

In past years, we have focused on market housing options within our budget recommendations. With economic recovery and COVID-19 top of mind, this doesn’t change. Our sector creates good-paying jobs in all corners of the province and can play a leading role in economic recovery efforts. 

COVID-19 taught us the importance of a safe, appropriate home in ways we didn’t think of before. Therefore a focus on housing in this upcoming budget deserves our utmost attention and collaboration towards solutions for all aspects of the housing system, from homelessness to market ownership. 

For this budget submission, we have split our priorities into two areas: short-term stimulus for COVID-19 solutions that could be one-time expenditures, and long-term changes. 

We have suggested short-term options to help B.C. weather this upcoming period, support housing demand across the province, and help home builders and renovators maintain and create jobs province-wide for their companies and the trades they work with. Our long-term options consider changes that positively benefit housing affordability for future first-time home buyers, help us meet our CleanBC objectives, and move needed housing projects from the approval to construction stages. 

Economic Recovery

CHBA BC has worked alongside partners and stakeholders in the residential construction industry to collaborate together pushing forward policies that will help achieve economic recovery within the province.

The following policies exemplify some of the ways in which CHBA BC is looking to advocate changes for our members that both benefit your businesses and help address the need for sustained economic growth from the impacts of COVID-19.

• Strongly encourage local governments to fast-track development applications by adopting ideas from the Development Approvals Process Review.

• Support local governments so development cost charges (DCCs) can be paid when building permits are issued rather than at the subdivision stage. This would ease the crisis for builders working on subdivision projects who want to move forward with projects but are paying their DCCs early in the process.

• Extend the 12-month grandfathering period for DCCs by an additional six months. Currently, when DCC rates increase, developments that are already underway or receive building permits within 12 months are exempt from the increase.

Survey

CHBA BC had asked for your feedback on how COVID-19 had economically impacted businesses within the residential construction industry. We received over 150 responses from all eight of our locals and representing home builders, renovators, developers, suppliers and professional services. 

This data has revealed key insights such as that 43% of respondents had seen an approximate lay off of between 1 and 4 employees, or that approximately 50% of respondents found that permit approval timelines have increased in length. 

Thank you to all who participated in this survey, your insights and feedback have already been requested to be shared by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, BC Hydro and the Ministry of Finance. Your input will aid in ensuring that the ideas and voices within the residential construction industry are heard by the provincial government as we work towards economic recovery within B.C.

 You can find our full detailed analysis in PDF format or on our website.