Why is House affordability an issue in Vancouver? - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Why is House affordability an issue in Vancouver?Created By: Tobiasz Majerkiewicz & Zayd Abbas

2. Housing In early VancouverHousing in early Vancouver were quite reasonable CBC News rehashed a 1988 story by Neil Macdonald that talked about how a family of four in a Toronto suburb needed an income of $67,000 just to afford a home.In Vancouver? Families needed to make $56,000.Contrast that with today, when you would need $87,407 to afford an average-priced home in Toronto. And $120,297 to buy one in Vancouver.

3. How do rising house prices Effect The Future Generation?This housing crisis is going to hit the upcoming generation really hard. Because of the unaffordability of these homes the next generation will not be able to live in a descent home.  Now in Vancouver you can buy an apartment in 2018 that cost around $1.5 million but back in 1980 you can buy an actual  house that is $900 Thousand dollars cheaper. And now add the cost of living plus hydro bills and electricity bills. This makes the cost of normal living in Vancouver Current Houses in 2018(Apartment) Cost: $1.5 MillionHouses In 1980Cost: $600 Thousand

4. UrbanizationA colonial city greater Vancouver area was established in the early 1860s, as the capital of colony, as well as an economic center for trading. As Canada was to have a railway reaching to the west, the demand for workers in both mining and rail work greatly increased, leading to almost a double in population, leading to denser population densities. During WWII, resources were shipped by train to the Burrard Inlet, and later BC ferries and airports were built, leading Vancouver to become a major transport center.

5. What areas are mostly affected?The average price for detached houses sold in Greater Vancouver reached a record of $1,830,956 in May, up 5 per cent from the same month in 2016 and just surpassing the previous high of $1,826,541 in January, 2016. Greater Vancouver's benchmark residential price reached a new high of $967,500, up 8.8 per cent from one year earlier and a 54.7-per-cent surge compared with three years ago. The industry's benchmark price depicts typical properties sold.

6. What can we do to fix this?One way we can fix rising house prices is by reducing the amount of foreign buyers from countries across the globe. Giving these millionaire buyers an option to buy here in Vancouver and take space from the upcoming generation of Vancouverites. If the people of Vancouver cant afford a house then there will be more people on the streets because of the crisis. Doing this will open up more chances for the new oncoming generations. This also effects our overall housing prices because of the amount of foreign buyers buying home in the Vancouver area most of these houses are not used for many years and I think this is just a waste of a building that some other Canadian will be very gratefully to buy.  Adding to this is the cost of living 

7. Pros and cons of a foreign taxA foreign buyer tax would allow people that permanently live in bc  this ban is the worst thing because of its taking up the room for the next generation Canadians most of the people buying homes in Vancouver and Richmond are Japanese, Chinese and Asian immigrants who travel to Canada for one week and leave their house in Canada to go back home for 5 years leaving it abandoned and no one taking care of it . The biggest arrow is being pointed at china because most of the houses that are bought outside of Canada are bought in China. One of the possible downsides is how the tax will be enforced as Canada does not have tax treaties with every country.

8. Pros and cons of a flipping feeHouse flipping is when a house is bought, and immediately resold, almost as  stock asset, and not a place to live. One way to solve this, and in turn allow there to be a larger supply of houses is to put a fee on house flipping, this will deter people from reselling houses, allowing future residents a larger supply of houses, and therefore a lower cost. Some problems are what is considered "flipping for profit", as some people just decide to not live where they do due to an unfitting environment, There is also debate on whether or not fixing a house and selling is considered flipping. Old house on Left, Rebuilt (Flipped) On right

9. Pros and cons of Vacant house TaxAnother option is an enhanced vacant house tax, which would take some weight off the taxpayer's back, and would be taken from people who buy a house as an investment in another country or province, and only use it for seasonal use without renting it out. a larger tax would deter that and even could open more live houses for renting due to it. This tax is supposed to help people who live and work in Vancouver afford at least rent.  A vacant home tax is already active (since mid 2017) and applies to homes vacant for less than 6 months per year, the tax is a fixed 1%, and many think there are still issues. An enhanced vacancy tax would allow for more exceptions than already (sales, constructions) and would stagger per year up to a set amount.

10. How would an enhanced vacancy tax affect the greater Vancouver area?A vacancy tax has many benefits to the city, such as tax money as well as more potential rent and buying options, leading to higher supply and lower prices, owners of the houses may even benefit by renting out a seasonal house to students, and collecting rent money. For people who do not want to cooperate, they will have to pay an annual fee, increasing from 1-5% of their assessed house value. This would allow tax money to go to city project funds, and open rentable housing, which appeals to younger generations such as students. 

11. HOW WOULD AN ENHANCED VACANCY TAX AFFECT THE GREATER VANCOUVER AREA?In order to implement the new tax, the existing vacancy bylaw will have to be retried and amended, as well as that, people are needed to assess property status declarations, and enforce collection. Overall, the new vacancy tax would cost about an annual $10 000, however, this will definitely be returned and more by the tax, due to the many homes eligible to pay the tax. Although the new tax would promise more and cheaper housing for Vancouverites, many people who own seasonal homes are very upset with the idea of a vacancy tax, as the houses are being used, no mater the days per year. These people have to accept that Vancouver is one of Canada's major metropolitan areas, and not a scenic retreat for people from around the world (particularly the US and China). There are also people who are met with sudden changes, and need to file an individual report to not pay the tax. Overall, if the updated tax is implemented, progress can mainly be seen through an increase in rentable housing in Vancouver, and promising tax money.

12. So in conclusion we would like to enforce the foreign buyers tax to be more serous because it is taking away a place to live for future Canadians.  Another things that we would like to propose is a new law that if a house is left for a minimum of 5 years then the house would have to be sold because of being just and empty house and future Canadians may have a use for this.I hope will make the right decision for the future.Conclusion