Monday April 29, 2024 | LANGLEY, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Further progress with BC Builds was announced today in Langley near a construction site, on a vacant lot adjacent to Willoughby Firehall, Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Kahlon announced additional expansion of the BC Builds program.
With active construction activity in the background for a future 500 units of affordable housing, they were joined on site by Megan Dykeman, MLA for Langley East; and Eric Woodward, mayor of the Township of Langley.
Eight new locations for BC Builds active projects were announced (3 in Langley, plus one each in Kamloops, Kelowna, Elkford, Sooke and North Cowichan).
As well, the launch of a new web portal was announced where builders and developers (private and non-profit) can find opportunities across the province. Builders can identify prezoned land and bid with their housing construction projects, said Eby. | See: How BC Builds Works
Once a developer and housing operator are identified, the BC Builds model will turn the identified sites from concept to construction in 12-18 months, rather than the typical three to five years.
This acceleration is accomplished by streamlining municipal development processes and having the BC Builds team working collaboratively with landowners, local governments, and residential developers to remove any barriers.
BC Builds was the model for Canada Builds:
Eby noted that this is a project built on “collaboration and partnership” and that the program is “now going across the country” (the federal government launched Canada Builds in their Budget 2024).
Eby pointed out that land is being bought up around new transit and that rental housing is being preserved. He noted that starting May 1 the new short term rental rules will also preserve and protect existing residential options. He acknowledged the federal government for their “additional $2 billion” in construction financing.
A key benefit of BC Builds is that ongoing costs are not required. The Premier explained that “the building pays for itself through rental incomes”. Provincial (and federal) funds are for construction financing. “The program can go on for many many years,” says Eby. “If we get the traction that we’re hoping for there’s no reason why the program can’t go on indefinitely,” said Eby today.
Housing stock stays in non-market:
“Housing stock stays in the non-market space,” said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, emphasizing that real estate speculation is minimized by the various efforts of the BC NDP government through their range of legislation and the work through BC Builds.
“We cannot build our way to affordability,” said Mayor Eric Woodward. He noted 3,000 acres of vacant land in the broader Metro Vancouver area. “We’ve been waiting for years for a program just like this one,” said Woodward.
BC Builds adds more sites to fast-track housing for people with middle incomes (News Release April 29, 2024)
Proposals are being sought for eight pre-zoned housing sites on public lands that have been added to the BC Builds property list to fast-track more rental homes to be built for people with middle incomes in B.C.
“Our communities and our economy depend on middle-income people like teachers, nurses and construction workers, and they depend on being able to find a decent place to live within their budget,” said Premier David Eby. “By bringing together public landowners and housing developers and operators through BC Builds, we are transforming underused public land throughout the province into thousands of lower-cost, middle-income rental homes.”
Launched in February 2024, BC Builds delivers more homes middle-income earners can afford through low-interest financing, grant funding, and leveraging government-, community- and non-profit-owned and underused land.
Working closely with First Nations, non-profits and local governments, eight parcels of pre-zoned land from the Interior to Vancouver Island have been secured for future BC Builds projects and are now available for housing development.
BC Builds is seeking proposals to connect residential developers and housing operators to the landowners of these pre-zoned sites through a new online platform on the BC Builds website. By providing pre-zoned land, low-cost financing and grant funding, these sites will be developed into homes people and families with middle incomes living and working in that community can afford. All BC Builds projects have a target of households with middle incomes spending no more than 30% of their income on rent.
“We’re dealing with a housing crisis and governments must play an active role together with non-profits and the private sector to build as much housing as possible,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “BC Builds is getting British Columbia back into the game of building middle-income housing as quickly as possible by connecting public lands with homebuilders and non-profit housing operators.”
The eight housing development opportunities are:
- City of Kamloops, 377 Tranquille Rd.
- City of Kelowna, 1428 St. Paul St.
- District of Elkford, 421 Boivin Rd.
- District of Sooke, 6671 Wadams Way
- Municipality of North Cowichan, 9800 Willow St. (Chemainus)
- Township of Langley, 20230-72B Ave.
- Township of Langley, 27200 Block of Fraser Hwy.
- Township of Langley, 7883-199 St.
Information is available on the BC Builds website for each parcel of land, which includes details about the property, evaluation criteria for housing proposals and proposal submission deadlines. BC Builds will facilitate partnership agreements and lease terms between landowners and developers, and help support the evaluation of proposals to match zoned land with developers and housing operators. Information about the submission process is also available on the website.
Read the full BC Builds April 29, 2024 news release online. | HOUSING NEWS SECTION
