Some late news to wrap up 2023...
Watch for ambitious plan called BC Builds
From Business in Vancouver: A housing program called BC Builds will be unveiled early in the New Year and is expected to be the “marquee piece of February provincial budget.” It’s an ambitious multi-billion-dollar construction plan to build affordable homes for middle-class buyers on available public land, in areas where municipalities agree to fast permitting and maximum densification. It will initially focus on rental buildings and the government plans to publicly finance construction.
Service centre for EV capital of Canada
From storeys.com: Construction of the largest Tesla service centre in North America is scheduled to begin in 2024, in the Strathcona district of Vancouver, between Main Street and Clark Drive. B.C. has the most electric vehicles on the road to make it the EV capital of Canada. The centre will be built on what is now vacant industrial land. The Provincial Government’s goal is for all cars to be zero emission in 11 years.
More homes on the drawing board with federal funding
From the CBC: The Federal Government announced it would provide $115 million to facilitate the building of 40,000 new homes over the next 10 years, 3,200 of them by 2027. The plan is for more high-density housing, accelerated development processes, and more housing near transit. The City of Vancouver is committed to streamlining rezoning and expanding affordable rental programs.
Tax percentages flipped in empty homes
From Business in Vancouver: The B.C. speculation tax (also known as the empty homes tax) was created to penalize foreign buyers who were seen to be speculators in the real estate market. Five years later, 44 per cent of the affected by the tax are British Columbians, up from 20 per cent in the tax’s first year, while the foreign buyers taxed are now 13 per cent, down from 44 per cent the first year.