Peachland Councillor Dave Collins delivered a sobering update on the state of housing development in B.C. at council鈥檚 June 10 meeting.
It followed his attendance at a recent Urban Development Institute (UDI) luncheon.
鈥淚t was a rather grim luncheon,鈥� Collins said, noting that developers are struggling to make projects financially viable amid rising costs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fundamental structural change in the cost of development,鈥� he said, pointing to soaring prices for materials and labour, as well as fees from all levels of government鈥攎unicipal charges alone can add up to $100,000 per unit.
Collins, a licensed realtor, said one of the most urgent concerns raised was the impending implementation of Step Code 3, an energy efficiency standard that would effectively invalidate existing building plans and add hundreds of thousands of dollars to project costs.
鈥淏ecause if you've got a development file and drawings on file, well, you can throw those drawings out, Step Code 3 wipes that are drawing out,鈥� he said.
He noted that developers aren鈥檛 starting new projects鈥攖hey鈥檙e only finishing ones already underway.
鈥淲e鈥檙e slowly going down into less and less building starts,鈥� he said, pointing out that, in Peachland, 17 development parcels are up for sale, but no new ground is being broken. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 force developers to lose money.鈥�
Collins warned that the stalled growth puts pressure on the town鈥檚 finances.
鈥淚, for one, do not want to jack property tax rates up because we don鈥檛 have a growing tax base,鈥� he said.
Collins suggests that municipalities are going to have to think outside the box, and hopefully, the federal government will come to the rescue with some infrastructure money.
He said the ask from UDI is for the province to stop giving projects to municipalities because it takes up planning departments' time to implement these things.
Despite the challenges, there was some optimism. Collins noted that Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon has floated federal-level ideas to support housing delivery in BC. The UDI also urged reconsidering restrictions on short-term rentals, which previously helped developers reach pre-sale targets and secure financing.
鈥淭here isn鈥檛 one development project that doesn鈥檛 need investors,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淏ut they鈥檙e not in the market right now, because why would they be?鈥�
The government does not have enough money to build housing, he pointed out.
鈥淭hey can help, but they just don't. It's trillions of dollars. They're going to have to look at foreign buyers again, which used to help with presales and get projects off the ground.鈥�
Mayor Patrick Van Minsel acknowledged the need for action.
鈥淭his council will have to look at incentive programs for Peachland, and we will do that sooner rather than later,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already working with federal and provincial governments鈥攖hey just need to listen.鈥�
Chief Administrative Officer Joe Creron also supported offering incentives like property tax relief for a few years to offset Development Cost Charges. But he said the responsibility doesn鈥檛 fall on government alone.
鈥淲e all have to look, not just government,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 getting tired of everybody blaming government. Yes, we are part of the problem, but so is the industry.鈥�
