BC Builds: Eby announces $3 billion middle-income housing program

BC Builds: Premier Eby announces $3 billion middle-income housing program

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Although affordable housing for low-income individuals gets most of the spotlight, the Government of British Columbia is now planning to invest significantly in more affordable homes for middle-income people.

After initially announcing the idea during his BC NDP party leadership race in Fall 2022 and including it in his Spring 2023 housing strategy, Premier David Eby announced the framework of the new BC Builds program today.

Through BC Housing, the provincial government will provide nearly $3 billion in financial support to leverage new middle-income housing projects on “underused” land owned by non-profit housing organizations, churches, First Nations, universities, and other levels of government, including $2 billion in low-cost repayable financing and $950 million in direct non-repayable funding.

“Anyone looking for a place to live knows how hard it is — even if you make a decent salary there are not enough rental homes people can afford,” said Eby in a statement this morning.

“The private sector alone has not been able to deliver the homes middle-class people in BC need. That’s why we’re taking action through BC Builds to deliver lower-cost middle-income homes, faster, so the people who keep our communities working — like teachers, nurses, and construction workers — can find homes they can afford in the communities they love.”

This program is funded by the provincial government’s ability to access lower borrowing rates to bring project costs down, which are hampering the ability for projects to proceed — everything from soaring construction costs due to inflation and growing land costs to higher borrowing rates in the marketplace to support construction financing. This in turn has also led to rising rents and home prices.

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Under BC Builds, the projects will move from concept to construction within only 12 to 18 months instead of the existing average timeline of three to five years. The provincial government will work with builders and municipal governments to streamline the development process for BC Builds projects.

The provincial government has already identified the initial 20 projects that can be supported and expedited by BC Builds, which could generate a combined total of 4,000 secured purpose-built rental homes for middle incomes.

BC Builds is described as an added layer of affordable housing — picking up where existing BC Housing programs leave off. This new middle-income housing program will create affordable homes for household incomes from $84,780 to $131,950 for a studio or one-bedroom unit or $134,410 to $191,910 for a two-bedroom home or larger.

Currently, the existing BC Housing programs support middle incomes to a ceiling of $84,780 for a studio/one-bedroom unit and $134,140 for a unit with two or more bedrooms.

Affordability standards through BC Builds are defined as at least 20% of homes with rents that are at least 20% below market rate for projects in partnership with non-profits and First Nations. Moreover, all BC Builds projects will have a target of middle-income households spending no more than about 30% of their income on rent. Rent for BC Builds will not be higher than the project’s local area market rents.

“Too many middle-class families are struggling to find a place to live that they can afford, and that’s holding people and our economy back,” said Ravi Kahlon, BC Minister of Housing. “BC Builds is designed to meet this moment, overcome challenging market conditions, and deliver lower-cost rental homes for the people who deliver the services we rely on, and drive our economy forward — so they can build good lives here and thrive.”

Some projects under BC Builds could begin construction as early as Summer 2024.

Organizations the provincial government will be partnering directly with to achieve BC Builds projects include the municipal governments of Vancouver, North Vancouver, Langley City, Langley Township, Squamish, Ladysmith, Kelowna, Kamloops, and Whistler, as well as the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, and the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce.

Among the first projects identified to be supported by BC Builds includes an 18-storey mass timber building with 180 units as part of the City of North Vancouver’s North Shore Neighbourhood House project in partnership with Catalyst Community Development.

Eby and Kahlon previously suggested they were looking at public housing models in places such as Singapore and Vienna to develop the policy framework of BC Builds.

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