The boulevard condo thornhill. Experts comment on or aggravate the heat of the housing market. The unaffordability of housing prices has become one of the core issues in this year’s general election.
The Federal Liberal Party announced its housing policy this week, one of which is a pledge of 1 billion yuan to set up a “rent-and-buy” housing scheme (rent-to-own program) to help people who find it difficult to make a large down payment to enter the housing market. However, some experts point out that this strategy can only benefit a small number of people and is likely to increase housing demand and make the market hotter. The most fundamental way to curb house prices has always been to increase supply.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the housing platform released by the Liberal Party on Thursday includes increasing tax breaks for first-time home buyers, cracking down on housing speculation, banning blind bidding, making the bidding process more open and transparent, restricting foreigners from buying houses, and allocating 1 billion yuan from the federal government to work with the private sector, non-profit-making organizations and housing cooperatives. Set up a “rent-and-buy” special housing program to help some people get on the bus and so on.
Jennifer Keesmaat, a former chief planner of several cities and a candidate for mayor of Toronto, put forward a similar plan in the provincial and municipal election in 2018. Her approach is for the municipal government to come up with a certain number of housing units, which are specially used for renting and then buying, and the residents first sign an agreement with the developer to determine the price of the relevant houses, and the monthly rent will be paid after moving in as the “monthly contribution” of the down payment funds.
In the latest plan announced by the Liberal Party, it does not specify whether its allocation of 1 billion yuan will mainly be lent to developers or tenants, or whether the money will mainly be allocated to metropolises such as Toronto or Vancouver where housing prices are unaffordable. The Liberal Party has not explained how it will co-operate with various cities to implement this project in the future. The power to examine and approve housing development projects is in the hands of the municipal governments. To ensure that the first batch of rental and then buy housing units, or to encourage developers to participate in this project, all need the support of the municipal government.
