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Filling BC’s Empty Condos Won’t Fix the Housing Crisis

Families don’t fit in 400-square-foot homes

The plan to convert more than 2,000 empty British Columbia condos into affordable housing has ignited a response that is as layered as it is strong—and we are nowhere near the centre of this political onion yet.

The federal and BC governments are planning to convert BC condos into affordable market housing

This program will facilitate the conversion of renters into homeowners but leave people in core housing need behind

Experts criticize the condo model, as these units don’t represent the diverse housing needs of many Canadians

First came curiosity as many wondered how the partnership between the BC and federal governments, announced on June 18, might work. Then came outrage; swift, loud, and arriving from multiple angles.

Political opponents of BC premier David Eby and Prime Minister Mark Carney labelled the scheme a bailout for developers who’d made a bet on the market and lost. The leaders were accused of intervening to prevent a long-awaited price correction on condos that many real estate experts assessed as overpriced.

Mayors in Metro Vancouver—one of the areas targeted for the acquisition plan—joined nonprofit housing providers in expressing alarm at what seemed to be a concerning shift in political priorities. Under the new scheme, the governments would make public money and “innovative financing tools” available for the purchase of market housing; meanwhile, significant funding for nonprofit housing had recently been cut. In its February budget, BC suspended applications to its Community Housing Fund and delayed its Indigenous Housing Fund, reallocating $1.4 billion to other fiscal priorities. Together, the two programs would have produced nearly 4,000 new, permanently affordable homes for low-income households.

In separate news conferences on June 25, Eby and Carney acknowledged they had fumbled the original announcement, which was timed to take advantage of Carney’s appearance in Vancouver for the FIFA World Cup soccer match between Canada and Qatar. “I think, in hindsight, we should have waited and made sure that all the details were available,” Eby said.

Subsequently, Eby specified that the program would not apply to condos in the City of Vancouver where many units are priced above $1 million. He also assured reporters that the program would not help developers, because the condos would be purchased at or below construction rates. For his part, Carney said that the program would include a rent-to-own component. But neither provided clarification on the expected purchase or sale price of the condos, how buyers would be selected, or even how the program would define “affordable.”

All this has raised more questions than answers. Chief among them: Who will ultimately benefit from the purchase of these condos? How will this help housing affordability? And what exactly is being converted here?

On the face of it, it is not a terrible idea for governments to use their political power and financial resources to bulk-buy existing housing. In general, homes that are already built are significantly cheaper than new construction. In fact, housing advocates in this country have been suggesting for months that senior governments should take advantage of declining condo prices to buy........

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