Affordable Housing Solutions

[Grandan]

The affordable housing crunch is here to stay.
https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/3 ... ity-crisis
There are solutions but there seems to be a tussle between two opposing forces. There is no shortage of land but gaining access to that land is impossible with it being in the land freeze, ALR.
There is some land that is clearly marginal for farming being that it is surrounded by development, too steep for farming or simply poor soils dumped on it many decades ago. Yes we need to preserve farmland but not marginal land.
The Agricultural Land Commission has a stranglehold on most of the remaining development land in Kelowna regardless of whether it can be farmed or not.
Placing development on the hillsides is not the answer either, the cost of building the infrastructure to these hillsides drives up the cost to the point only the very wealthy can afford to live there.
One answer would be to open up the marginal land along major roadways for development into social housing and cooperatives where the ALC has a strong hand on the wheel to prevent any future up zoning.
Food security is important but it should not be so rigid as to choke off the housing supply. I see little to be gained by creating markets for our agricultural products overseas where only the wealthy there can import our expensive products.
Housing vulnerable people should be a priority not exports of expensive produce.

[captkirkcanada]

The affordable housing crunch is here to stay.
https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/3 ... ity-crisis
There are solutions but there seems to be a tussle between two opposing forces. There is no shortage of land but gaining access to that land is impossible with it being in the land freeze, ALR.
There is some land that is clearly marginal for farming being that it is surrounded by development, too steep for farming or simply poor soils dumped on it many decades ago. Yes we need to preserve farmland but not marginal land.
The Agricultural Land Commission has a stranglehold on most of the remaining development land in Kelowna regardless of whether it can be farmed or not.
Placing development on the hillsides is not the answer either, the cost of building the infrastructure to these hillsides drives up the cost to the point only the very wealthy can afford to live there.
One answer would be to open up the marginal land along major roadways for development into social housing and cooperatives where the ALC has a strong hand on the wheel to prevent any future up zoning.
Food security is important but it should not be so rigid as to choke off the housing supply. I see little to be gained by creating markets for our agricultural products overseas where only the wealthy there can import our expensive products.
Housing vulnerable people should be a priority not exports of expensive produce.

thing is we are about to flood a whole lot of farm land because of site c. so really while i do agree that there might be some land in arl in kelowna that isnt really farmland, the govts of bc have no choice to be hawkish about that because they are destroying large tracts of real alr land elsewhere.

now having said all that, the bc govt owns lots of empty buildings, so put some contracts out to convert to low cost housing. put a stipulation that all market housing builders include ten percent low cost housing. give tax incentives to anyone who can supply safe cheap housing. motivate people with best motivator of all, greed.

[BC Landlord]

Could someone please define "affordable"? Where do you draw that affordability line ($$)?

[YzzzR1]

Could someone please define "affordable"? Where do you draw that affordability line ($$)?

I can't answer your question but if some didn't have the frivolous expenses these days they could afford more, newer cars, high cell bills, expensive coffees, eating out/Skip the Mess, etc,.

I know, as a young lad, we went without a lot of things, beater cars, homemade meals, etc. and had to keep it to just the basics. As we grew older and gained experience and pay raises to suit, we could afford more luxuries and nicer things. Now it seems they want it all right out of the box. Maybe society needs an attitude adjustment.

[gertlush]

*removed*

[Even Steven]

*removed*

[gertlush]

Less immigration.
Incentives to move to other areas.
Other places to invest money in a negative real interest rate environment.

[Grandan]

Could someone please define "affordable"? Where do you draw that affordability line ($$)?

I can't answer your question but if some didn't have the frivolous expenses these days they could afford more, newer cars, high cell bills, expensive coffees, eating out/Skip the Mess, etc,.

I know, as a young lad, we went without a lot of things, beater cars, homemade meals, etc. and had to keep it to just the basics. As we grew older and gained experience and pay raises to suit, we could afford more luxuries and nicer things. Now it seems they want it all right out of the box. Maybe society needs an attitude adjustment.

Yep, you pretty much nailed it. And worse, young people are carrying a lot of high interest credit card debt, paying the minimum amount payment each month just so they can "Skip The Dishes", and have all sorts of expensive morning coffee preparations, on the run snacks and drive a jacked up POS truck that never sees off-road.
It burns my butt when I think of using my tax dollars to fund their poor lifestyle choices with a bonus brand new affordable housing unit.
I put the priority on buying a house and forgoing a car and riding my bike to work. We grew a garden by hand digging it and starting seeds rather than buying mature plants and pretend that was gardening. We did all our own home repairs, appliance repairs and maintenance on our own. I once rode home on my bike with 5 gallons of paint in a packsack on my back and suffered hemorrhoids so I could paint my house. I bought used or orphaned building materials so I could buy more of what I needed for less money.
Affordable housing is what you plan for when you buy what your salary can accommodate and pay it off as soon as possible and move up when finances allow.
So now the development community must step up and provide for these whiners? I call BS! Learn some sacrifice!

[gertlush]

Did you read the article you linked too? House prices up 97% since 2015?

But yeah... avocado toast is the problem

[Catsumi]

I can't answer your question but if some didn't have the frivolous expenses these days they could afford more, newer cars, high cell bills, expensive coffees, eating out/Skip the Mess, etc,.

I know, as a young lad, we went without a lot of things, beater cars, homemade meals, etc. and had to keep it to just the basics. As we grew older and gained experience and pay raises to suit, we could afford more luxuries and nicer things. Now it seems they want it all right out of the box. Maybe society needs an attitude adjustment.

Yep, you pretty much nailed it. And worse, young people are carrying a lot of high interest credit card debt, paying the minimum amount payment each month just so they can "Skip The Dishes", and have all sorts of expensive morning coffee preparations, on the run snacks and drive a jacked up POS truck that never sees off-road.
It burns my butt when I think of using my tax dollars to fund their poor lifestyle choices with a bonus brand new affordable housing unit.
I put the priority on buying a house and forgoing a car and riding my bike to work. We grew a garden by hand digging it and starting seeds rather than buying mature plants and pretend that was gardening. We did all our own home repairs, appliance repairs and maintenance on our own. I once rode home on my bike with 5 gallons of paint in a packsack on my back and suffered hemorrhoids so I could paint my house. I bought used or orphaned building materials so I could buy more of what I needed for less money.
Affordable housing is what you plan for when you buy what your salary can accommodate and pay it off as soon as possible and move up when finances allow.
So now the development community must step up and provide for these whiners? I call BS! Learn some sacrifice!

Right on. I did pretty much the same. No holiday for 6 years with very limited vanity spending (coffee/lunches out, etc). Paid mtg off by myself in those 6 years. It can be done. I too resent the idea that my tax money goes to funding others’ homes without them making any sacrifice at all.

[BC Landlord]

I remember one of my former tenants (a couple with a small kid). Every time we met, he complained about how buying a house is out of reach for them. But, he never missed a year to go to some warm place on vacation, drove a newer Range Rover and smoked cigarettes.

Some people just don't get it ...

[forum]

…

Boomers saying they made sacrifices. Too funny.

So I’ll tell the kids that if they just use orphaned materials and ride with cans of paint on their bikes, they will have made the necessary sacrifice to afford a home in Kelowna.

Boomers are so damn entitled and have no solutions to the problems.

It’s very simple. Remove profits from residential developments entirely.

A single person can only own one residential property. One SIN number, one home.

It’s not hard to remove investors from a market. Make it unattractive.

[YzzzR1]

Less immigration.
Incentives to move to other areas.
Other places to invest money in a negative real interest rate environment.

Personally, I think the amount of immigration currently happening is the biggest factor in today's housing costs, both ownership and rentals. Supply and demand and there is only so much supply for such high demand. Unless we build more units or curtail immigration the costs will not stop soring.

[hozzle]

Unfortunately the market will govern what is affordable. It’s a fluid situation and in time it will find its level. So even if the gov’t builds affordable housing today the costs of maintaining them will be influenced by the commercial market tomorrow.

The worst part is ownership may become a thing of the past. The U.S. market will affect the Canadian market in time. Since the 2008 sloppy mortgage lending popped the housing bubble and left the lenders with millions in inventory. The new stricter lending guidelines forced a perceived housing shortage that has pushed home prices in most markets well above their pre-crisis peaks. How you say?! Corporations… the only feasible buyers were corporations and this trend opened the door for new industries like residential property managers. So every time a house goes on the market a company like BlackRock will snatch it up for their REIT fund (real estate investment trust). This used to be mostly commercial properties but now with the likes of AirBnB the residential income aspects are ripe for REITs. Will this come to Canada? It might particularly with the World Economic Forum that wants you to believe “you will own nothing, and be happy”. The old adage of “house rich money poor” will be a thing of the past particularly in a landscape of renter only communities.

I honestly think what is happening in the states has affected the Canadian market. Most people are aware of the migration from big cities to rural settings. My mom’s house she bought for 35k in 1970 sold for 2.2mil in 2019… but who is buying the houses in the big cities? Foreign & local wealthy elites & corporations… and costs & taxes don’t affect them as it does to the rest of us.

[BC Landlord]

Canada needs more immigration, not less. However, it should be geared toward immigrants whose ambitions and capabilities go beyond collecting government handouts.