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EDITORIAL: Home Remedies

West Vancouver council and development company Westbank have agreed on a novel approach for the marketing of a sizeable new condo project in Horseshoe Bay.

West Vancouver council and development company Westbank have agreed on a novel approach for the marketing of a sizeable new condo project in Horseshoe Bay. People who live or work in West Van will be given first crack when pre-sales start and all buyers must sign a pledge declaring they will live there and not flip the unit for profit.

This after the developer was caught red-handed soliciting interest in the units in Hong Kong before council had even held its public hearing. It’s probably not enforceable, at least not without a protracted battle in the courts, but all the same, we applaud them both for finding this “locals first” compromise.

The development industry has insisted all along that in order to cool local housing prices, we simply had to build more condos. But if there’s an insatiable demand for would-be homes as investment commodities, no boost in supply will make a difference.

The point may be moot though, with B.C.’s new foreign buyers tax apparently having its intended effect.

The most recent stats show the number of foreign buyers in the market spiked on July 29 and then fell off a cliff on Aug. 2. And government says it is scrutinizing plenty of deals to ensure there isn’t any tax sleight of hand happening.

However, if a class action lawsuit against the foreign buyer tax succeeds, the locals-first model will be our best protection from speculators eager to re-establish their grip on the housing market.

That’s just one of the reasons we hope the locals-first model becomes a template for other developments in other municipalities. We remain very much in a housing affordability crisis and it’s time we found a made-at-home solution.

 

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