City hall should shorten approval timelines for building permits.
affordable housing
Recently 1,000 units initially intended for the rental market have been converted into condo units.
To reduce the cost of housing in Vancouver, more units must be built.
If selling condos is more lucrative, that’s what property developers will do.
Once prices aren’t allowed to increase to meet demand, people face strong disincentives to build new units.
Boosting demand for a good without also boosting its supply puts upward pressure on prices.
If new housing supply can adequately respond to spillovers in demand, there’s no reason for bidding wars in middle-class neighbourhoods.
Vancouver’s growing housing costs are outstripping income increases in the city.
In neighbouring Burnaby, it takes almost five months less for typical housing development projects to receive a greenlight from city hall, and costs approximately $20,000 less in compliance fees per new dwelling unit.