Vancouver’s Housing and Homelessness Strategy
Yesterday the City of Vancouver released its “Housing and Homelessness Strategy”:
The views and opinions heard during this public and stakeholder engagement were used to shape the Housing & Homelessness Strategy… Building on what the City has learnt from past practices and policies and what we heard during Talk Housing With Us, the Strategy focuses on three strategic directions:1. Increase the supply of affordable housing2. Encourage a housing mix across all neighbourhoods that enhances quality of life3. Provide strong leadership and support partners to enhance housing stabilityThe Strategy addresses the entire housing continuum with the City committed to improving choice and affordability for all residents and in all neighbourhoods across the city. The housing continuum consists of the range of housing options available to households of all income levels, from emergency shelters for people who are homeless to affordable home ownership options for key workers with moderate incomes.
All income levels except those have above-moderate incomes. Or am I missing something? Apparently…
… the continuum doesn’t seem to include cooperatives, rented detached and rented attached dwellings. When the City talks about a “range of housing options available to households of all income levels”, we should separate what a family is willing to pay and what a family is able to pay to live in the City. On this front, unfortunately, the City is unwilling to deal with its rampant land hoarding and speculation addiction. If they want to join SpecAnon, the door is always open.
July 21st, 2011 at 3:01 pm
@nuxfan:
Yeah, and although the translation was elegant, what the original Chinese actually said was that the Japanese call it "non-moving property" (which is the same as the French term "immobilier") and things that don't move are not always better than things that do.
July 21st, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I tink I buy CMHC,…… then forgive loans…give everybody 30 days notice to buy RE.
Game On ?
PS yeah 4Q too Meth Man…rent still late!
July 21st, 2011 at 1:33 pm
40 Anonymous: "Now"? They've bragged about this before. Why do you think the CMHC's role was expanded so far beyond assisting the needy? The poor are passe.
July 21st, 2011 at 1:27 pm
@paulb.: Somewhere in this City there is a greater fool generator. It just seems to keep churning them out, no matter what. Yeah I know about the HAM but its gotta be more than that. Only the Shadow knows?
July 21st, 2011 at 1:25 pm
Meth Man..
No I still here….
Other one is ugly relative.
BTW…pay rent for dumpster or evict…last warning
July 21st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
@Anonymous:
What? Li Ka Shing is being deported?
Excellent, now we just need to send Ozzie Jurock back to Germany.
July 21st, 2011 at 12:13 pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/20/world…
July 21st, 2011 at 12:12 pm
@Anonymous:
he is actually being deported, it's official
July 21st, 2011 at 11:54 am
@specialfx3000: …Very good news that Lai Changxing is ordered to be deported…..
Don't hold your breath!
July 21st, 2011 at 11:53 am
Look!!! CMHC is now a profit center for the Government….awesome! Maybe they'll start buying Canadians their own homes – that way we won't need to insure them or worry about using CMHC at all
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business…
July 21st, 2011 at 11:41 am
The Light Bulb Conspiracy (Trailer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2CUVZYu6tI
If you keep googling this….you'll find that many electronic products have a "death chip". One guy was so po'd his printer died….he went on line and found a Russian dude equally po'd and created a program that bypassed the death chip.
IMHO….shitty leaker condos were by design…..planned obsolescence…aka fast depreciation and excuse to redevelop….
July 21st, 2011 at 11:26 am
@space889: @jesse:
there ARE some builders that take pride in their work
they are probably the smaller ones who haven't profited the most.
July 21st, 2011 at 11:24 am
@space889:
it's kind of like GM, Ford and Chrysler since the 1970s.
the last decent engine GM made was the 350,
the last decent car chrysler made was the 72 440 six pack barracuda
and the last decent ford was probably the old f-100s from the late 60s.
i have a buddy who works at ford – he spends every day fixing things that he is convinced were designed poorly on purpose. $24,000 warrantied drivetrain replacements, etc etc.
July 21st, 2011 at 11:19 am
@granite countertop: "I think these are included in “Purpose-built rental”."
I don't see how that is. They are producing a stratification scale, so where would one put detached rentals from a private owner on that list, or market-based cooperatives that trade on MLS? It is disingenuous to call this a plan for all income levels when it clearly is not.
This housing plan stops at middle incomes and does nothing to address the broader issue, namely why a significant portion of the city is reserved for its financially elite or simply those brazen enough to in effect take an interest rate swap contract. And with current prices even those of the upper middle class are "reviewing their options".
From what I see the only level of government not in denial spend half their time in Ottawa, since they have the ability to look with a broader perspective.
July 21st, 2011 at 11:03 am
@specialfx3000:
I say he's 6 ft under within a year…one way or the other….send all the scum back…F*ckers….
July 21st, 2011 at 11:01 am
@space889:
Yeah…..old rumour /joke….
Regardless….it's a sick way to make a living…..build shit then screw 'em up the ass later.
Sucks money out of the economy….who really wins ?.
July 21st, 2011 at 10:32 am
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/st…
Very good news that Lai Changxing is ordered to be deported.
July 21st, 2011 at 10:15 am
New Listings 227
Price Changes 111
Sold Listings 144
TI:16252
http://www.laurenandpaul.ca
July 21st, 2011 at 10:11 am
@keeperofthederp: Well doesn't shoddy construction quality also means these people have a guaranteed jobs of fixing and over charging on condo repairs after the construction boom has ended? Seems like these people figured out a way to profit on the way up and leave rooms for profits on the way down.
July 21st, 2011 at 9:32 am
@VanMD:
"I seized the moment to employ the knowledge I gained here, and this is my counter-argument"
I think the easiest counter argument is "so what?". Being "real" does not equate to having "value", any gold/silver investor can tell you that. Just because a physical asset has value today does not mean it will tomorrow.
July 21st, 2011 at 9:32 am
@bubba:
That was interesting about the mayors moneymen. The Tides Foundation has also channelled tens of millions of dollars into Canadian political groups in order to shut down the oil sands.
American influence in our political processes is welcome from certain sources I guess
July 21st, 2011 at 9:25 am
@bubba:
i'm no expert, but all you have to do is just look up close at the buildings and units themselves and just speak to a few builders when you see them on site, etc. they're often quite blunt what they think of this or that.
i walked through the olympic village for the first time recently and had a big L O L.
July 21st, 2011 at 9:08 am
I say the whole scam will result in major ghettos….
Condos will be a disaster…..they really only work if people are engaged….
If they start to go through foreclosure…say 10% of the units…a major clusterf*ck happens.
What condos haven't had problems….these booms produce shitty workmanship.
I can smell it unfold as we speak
July 21st, 2011 at 9:03 am
Mayor Gregor's puppetmasters
http://www.citycaucus.com/2010/04/joel-solomon-th…
With one week to go both Peter Ladner and Robertson kept a promise made months earlier to identify the names of donors who supported their mayoral nominations. What was immediately apparent from Robertson's list is that he received sizable donations from several resident Americans. The story never gained any traction with the mainstream media before Election Day.
The question asked by some then and several times since has been, why are a bunch of well-heeled Americans (such as New Age guru Andrew Weil) donating money to help elect someone to become Vancouver's mayor? The answer becomes clearer after listening to Solomon's 2008 speech.
Read the rest….Fookin scary
July 21st, 2011 at 8:50 am
@keeperofthederp:
I don't know what the "derp" is, but I think I'd a like a bowl of it.
@granite countertop:
Yes, well said.
July 21st, 2011 at 8:35 am
Vancouver progressives (NDP, Vision) are completely unable to see the housing bubble.
While they are able to see and criticize some social problems, like oil dependency, they aren't personally profiting from those problems.
There isn't a history of marching in the streets to protest housing unaffordability. They don't notice it directly causes more problems than some of the dumb shit they do complain about.
They think that wealth distribution should be more equal, but it doesn't compute that while high real estate makes their wealth more "equal", people who didn't own before the bubble started are getting fucked over.
Worst of all, they can't see the bubble as a social problem because they created it. "We eat organic, we do yoga, we are at one with the needs of the people. We don't create problems, we solve them!" Blech.
July 21st, 2011 at 8:33 am
@Vansanity:
when chipmunk cheeks and the Fiberals fail you
I AM THERE FOR YOU
https://downandoutinvancouver.wordpress.com/2011/…
yes, that is a video of a MiG (or a Sukoy 22?) taking out a crowd of spectators at an airshow.
July 21st, 2011 at 8:23 am
Nitpicking the article:
"the continuum doesn’t seem to include cooperatives, rented detached and rented attached dwellings"
I think these are included in "Purpose-built rental". In any case, I don't think a normal market has a lot of detatched/attached rental dwellings, most of what Metro Vancouver has is due to speculation. A normal market will have more purpose-built rental buildings.
I'm surprized that cooperatives seem to have been deemphasized. I heard the federal NDP talking up cooperatives as a cost-effective way to create affordable housing, but that was two elections ago. Aren't they effective? A lot of them are leaking, were they mismanaged?
July 21st, 2011 at 8:22 am
I recently wrote to Premier Clark asking what she plans to do to end the foreign speculation that is partly responsible for driving prices to absurd levels.
Here was the reply I received:
"The decisions the BC government makes regarding foreign trade and the economy need to be made with careful consideration. In terms of foreign investment in the real estate market, we need to be careful about bringing in policies that could turn away potential investors from British Columbia. These types of investments do create jobs and allow for our communities to grow, but we also realize this is having an impact on the cost of real estate."
I wrote back asking them to explain how allowing foreign investment/speculation on housing allows for our communities to grow or adds to the economy?
I asked why speculation isn't taxed hard and the taxes the rest of us pay be reduced? Rather than blow smoke up our ass over HST and the newly proposed $.02 gas hike.
But that's my problem – I'm just too stupid to see that they don't give a shit about me. Me: born and raised in BC, taxpayer, voter, resident, contributor to my community… nope, I'm not important… I'm not a foreign investor.
July 21st, 2011 at 7:51 am
@space889:
Actual scarcity of anything is indicated by its price of use. During the dot-com bubble it cost a very large amount of money to buy a share of a fibre-optic network, but there was never any shortage of capacity, as indicated by the falling long distance rates.
Price of use of RE is rents. That's what indicates how scarce it is. Not selling prices. Anyone who cannot figure this out from the ghost towns of Florida, Ireland, etc must be brain dead.
Use of RE in Vancouver is no more intensive than elsewhere in Canada. We have ground level parking lots downtown, large empty spaces right next to downtown, and huge areas of lightly used industrial, commercial and residential RE. That's not scarcity.
July 21st, 2011 at 7:46 am
Affordable Housing…
…….is simply more BS
Certain developers produce these…there is always a catch that must benefit them.
It's a red herring thrown to the masses to deflect attention.
Affordable housing died in the early 1980's
July 21st, 2011 at 7:33 am
@space889:
1. Incomes are not keeping up with RE prices
2. Interest rates have no where to go but up
3. Way cheaper to rent
July 21st, 2011 at 7:25 am
@Van MD: Be ready for the following arguments:
1 – Japan doesn't allow immigrations, Canada encourages it
2 – Women in Japan aren't and don't want to have kids, Canadian and immigrant women do
3 – Most of Canada isn't livable, eg) NWT, etc so the desireable land like in Vancouver are in huge demand, after all we are bound on 1 side by ocean, 1 side by US Border, 1 side by mountains, and 1 side by ALR.
4 – Vancouver has the best weather
5 – There is no bubble in Vancouver like there is in Japan
6 – Vancouver is port of Asia, an economic giant beyond its size
7 – Vancouver is consistently rated as the top place to live in the world, we are world class and we are cheap relative to other world class cities.
8 – Vancouver population keeps going up and people need to live somewhere.
Anything else I forgot about??
July 21st, 2011 at 7:20 am
@Best place on meth: Good luck with that.
#1 means a lot less money coming into Canada and government of Canada.
#2 is harder to do, what's to prevent a husband claim a first home, wife claim the 2nd home as her first, one for the adult children, etc? Not to mention that also makes it easier to do some tax avoidance/cheating.
July 21st, 2011 at 7:19 am
@Van MD:
A wise person told be when investing, 'beware of a compelling story'. In other words, the easier it is to make a case that something is a good investment (eg. limited land, beautiful city, HAM is coming) the more likely it is that the investment is overpriced or on its way to being overpriced…and will eventually crash. No matter how great an asset or investment is, be it Vancouver RE, a BMW, etc…it can be overpriced. You can argue all day about how great of a car a BMW is, but if it costs $500K should you buy it?
July 21st, 2011 at 7:07 am
@keeperofthederp:
Yeah, and not only that but thanks to rising sea levels it'll eventually be underwater (nice metaphor) which negates the silly cheerleaders other point that land never disappears.
The developers giveth and the lord taketh away.
The pumper is 0 for 2.
July 21st, 2011 at 6:56 am
@Best place on meth:
haven't the palms and the world development islands project gone bankrupt now?
china = dubai x 1000
July 21st, 2011 at 6:33 am
@Van MD:
No one can produce more land? Please tell your friend to shove this up his ass then – since it doesn't exist it won't hurt a bit.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-npdekO9_BTU/TWUZJNldVXI…
Regardless of that part of his argument, it's silly to say that land can't disappear because that's not the point.
The point is that its value can disappear.
July 21st, 2011 at 6:28 am
@Van MD:
ah i think West Van Princelings will be joining you in the fight again shortly, just gotta put the Deep Purple Album on..
https://downandoutinvancouver.wordpress.com/2011/…
July 21st, 2011 at 6:26 am
@Best place on meth:
that's all well and good but it looks like the speculators are paying for the policy makers?
and the news..
lol what a mess
July 21st, 2011 at 6:23 am
[Quick update from the frontlines]
at work right now, but managed to squeeze in a post in the Chinese forum, arguing against a perma-bull "Wincouver"'s argument that:
"RE is called by Japanese to be "Real" because it does not disappear. It's non-perishable because it's physical. No one can produce more land. Human population will always grow and land will grow more scarce. And, scarcity of land determines the rise of real estate. If you can't afford Vancouver West, move to Burnaby, if you can't afford Burnaby, move to Coquitlam; if you can't afford Coquitlam, move to Maple Ridge!"
I seized the moment to employ the knowledge I gained here, and this is my counter-argument:
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&pr…
In short, I discussed around Japan's lost decade(s), referred to this graph http://www.dynamicdps.com/images/00522japanhomepr… and pointed to the fact that the larger cities had the greater price gain but also equally great price drop when the bubble bursted. Then I asked him to figure out between Japan and Canada, which country's land is more scarce. I think that shut him up.
It feels good to shut those perma-bulls up. I think I might need to check myself into rehab for this new-found addiction soon…
July 21st, 2011 at 6:02 am
@Best place on meth:
All great ideas, but you don't need action by all levels of government by any means.
Just a 100% tax on RE speculation (which either the provincial or federal government could impose) OR severe cutbacks in CMHC insurance (or better, elimination) would do the trick.
July 21st, 2011 at 5:55 am
As far as affordable housing goes, I see nothing in that report addressing the biggest problem of them all, speculation. A lot of chatter about "incentives" to create affordable housing, but no "disincentives" to stop the speculating and hoarding of land and units.
All levels of government would need to get involved to:
1. End the Immigrant Investor Program and say goodbye to HAM.
2. Pull CHMC insurance from mortgages used for 2nd and 3rd homes, recreational properties, investment properties, anything that is not a primary residence. If people still want them they will have to pay higher interest rates as they will not be backstopped by taxpayers.
3. Increase property taxes for all properties mentioned above. 100% more should do.
4. Raise interest rates.
Once prices fall back into line with rents and wages, then it makes sense to bring in the incentives to promote social housing and co-ops. Co-ops in particular have been dead since the 80's when the speculation began.
We wouldn't even need to build them, the units are already there waiting to be converted. Just need to bring the prices down and shake the speculators out.
July 21st, 2011 at 5:51 am
from http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2011/06/30/the…
"Fixing" homelessness by targeting housing costs is like taking antibiotics for a viral infection.
When I first saw "swags for homelessness, I thought it was awesome. This is a great first step in helping those in need.
http://www.swags.org.au/
July 21st, 2011 at 5:21 am
@patriotz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ty9PBTVLhc
i'm sorry, what was that?
July 21st, 2011 at 5:18 am
@whydoItry:
the ChiComs in Beijing will do the same with the 64 million empty condos there, right?
ha ha ha
July 21st, 2011 at 3:46 am
Their whole POV is flawed. Homelessness is not caused by housing market unaffordability. Rental housing wasn't any more affordable in the 70s – and there was actually a severe shortage of vacancies due to rent controls – yet there was almost no homelessness as we know it today.
Homelessness is the result of lack of support for people with mental illnesses or other personal problems or crises. It should be treated as a health and welfare issue and not conflated with housing market issues.
The only real problem with housing in Vancouver is the massive distortion of the cost of buying versus renting – in other words a bubble – and it's beyond the power of the city to do anything significant about it, so if the city really wants to do people a favour it should just tell them to rent not buy.
July 21st, 2011 at 3:45 am
If property values for condominiums collapse then the city, province and feds should have a fund set up to buy the distressed sales and use them for social housing. Heck, CMHC will own a bundle of them itself. The Canadian taxpayer has already paid for them once – why do we have to pay for them twice.
We don't have to build affordable housing – its already here. You just have to take advantage of the opportunities coming up.
July 21st, 2011 at 3:09 am
Link to the report is here (PDF)