As long as our population is growing, we need to ensure the appropriate amount of new affordable housing is built. Government stopped doing that in the 1990s, so we have 30 years of backlog to catch up on.
Current infill housing can be more expensive than the housing it replaces, pushing it beyond the means of many Canadians. Density isn’t enough.
Tax write-offs created in the 1970s make real estate investments more attractive than actual investments in actual companies that create actual jobs. That encourages people to treat homes as an investment, which pushes more money into the real estate market. Coincidentally, Canadian productivity has been dropping relative to our peer countries for decades. 🤷
Government has outsourced housing to the private sector, so we’re now beholden to private investors to choose to build housing. Interest rates are higher now, so private investors will slow down the building of new housing.
Even just prioritizing redevelopment of vacant/abandoned lots within cities would do a lot. The north american attitude seems to be build a second city next to the original once the original starts showing its age. Heavily tax poor land use in already dense areas like surface level parking.
Removed by mod
It’s harder than that.
As long as our population is growing, we need to ensure the appropriate amount of new affordable housing is built. Government stopped doing that in the 1990s, so we have 30 years of backlog to catch up on.
Current infill housing can be more expensive than the housing it replaces, pushing it beyond the means of many Canadians. Density isn’t enough.
Tax write-offs created in the 1970s make real estate investments more attractive than actual investments in actual companies that create actual jobs. That encourages people to treat homes as an investment, which pushes more money into the real estate market. Coincidentally, Canadian productivity has been dropping relative to our peer countries for decades. 🤷
Government has outsourced housing to the private sector, so we’re now beholden to private investors to choose to build housing. Interest rates are higher now, so private investors will slow down the building of new housing.
Even just prioritizing redevelopment of vacant/abandoned lots within cities would do a lot. The north american attitude seems to be build a second city next to the original once the original starts showing its age. Heavily tax poor land use in already dense areas like surface level parking.
Or just do Land Value Tax.