We Need a New Level of Commitment and Approach to the Housing Crisis

We know from countless studies that there are severe costs of inadequate, unaffordable housing. Inadequate, unaffordable housing in urban centres limits access for low and medium wage workers.  People cannot work where they cannot afford to live. It significantly adversely affects the local community and economy. And, homelessness, in the extreme, imposes huge social and economic costs on all sectors of society:

-poverty, illness and premature loss of life for those directly affected;

-reduced property values for business and residents in or near outdoor encampment areas;

-disproportionate demand for emergency and other health services;

-extraordinary policing and criminal justice system costs;

-safety concerns for all residents, homeless and sheltered alike.

There have been increased efforts to address the homelessness and more general housing crisis in Vancouver and other British Columbia communities, but these efforts are manifestly insufficient. The problem has been getting worse, not better. There still is not the commitment to what is warranted and required -- a much greater, long term and strategic investment program than is currently taking place.

A fundamentally new level of commitment and approach is required.

First and foremost, investments to improve access to clean, safe and affordable housing cannot be dependent on the success or failure of ad hoc trilateral government negotiations and agreements. Secure, adequate funds must be dedicated to investment in housing and related supports and services to enable large-scale, long term plans to be developed and implemented.

Instead of the city looking to the province, and the province looking to the federal government for more funds for the different specific projects they would like to undertake each year or political cycle, we need the provincial government to create an Urban Housing Authority with a guarantee of funds sufficient to develop and implement long term investment plans that will make demonstrable improvements in:

-reducing and ultimately eliminating widespread homelessness and associated outdoor encampments;

-providing affordable rental or other housing opportunities for low and medium income workers and families in urban centres, reasonably near their places of work or study, housing that the private sector simply is not developing.

The mandate of this Urban Housing Authority would go well beyond the existing BC Housing Corporation with its limited scope and budget, and its complicated relationship with government. The Authority would be a major new developer of housing in BC urban centres, with private sector management and expertise, but very clearly articulated housing policy objectives and goals.

Core funding for the Authority would come from a housing development agreement with the provincial government. Much like BC Ferries which receives annual payments from government in exchange for  contractually-specified service guarantees, the Housing Authority would receive annual payments in exchange for housing development commitments -- commitments that would transparently put the province on a path to reducing homelessness and affordability concerns. The province could negotiate with the federal government and cities to share the cost of these payments, but the timeliness and success of those negotiations would not affect the province's commitment and contractual obligations to the Authority.

Over time, the Authority would develop other sources of revenues. It would be empowered to undertake land assembly and redevelopment schemes in core urban areas with profits used to finance development of more affordable housing units and related services. The Authority would also have borrowing powers through the Municipal Finance Authority or with provincial government guarantees to gain access to low cost capital funds. In this way the Urban Housing Authority would mirror the rationale and mandate of BC Hydro and BC Ferries -- established and empowered to make the investments and provide the facilities and services the private sector would not or could not do. And in doing so it would fundamentally change for the better the urban landscape of BC.