New Government Must Address Real Housing Issues
Changes that would make a real difference in affordability and availability of homes are being lost in the November 7 provincial election campaign.
Bill Madder of the Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS® says incentives to draw dollars into apartment construction, and reforms to speed up land development are critical to the province’s growth and well-being, but are being lost in the argument over rent control.
Mr. Madder said these underlying issues will face the next government, and the choices they make should be debated in the campaign.
He said the major roadblocks in housing are shortage of investment in rental units, and shortage of land to build on.
“Demand for land has tripled recently but our planning and development laws haven’t been reviewed for years. Saskatchewan still uses a command-and-control model with heavy regulation and lengthy procedures that delay action and drive up cost. Many communities will not have buildable land for years because the planning process is outdated and effectively non-functioning.”
Political parties should update their policy arsenals by dropping rules-based approaches like rent control, and instead, to look at ideas such as a tax incentive that can multiply investment in rental housing supply.
“The command-and-control approach has made apartment rentals a marginal and difficult business. Adding more rules will not attract more dollars. We need an innovative approach that mixes incentives to catch up the supply, with fast-tracking approval processes to open more land to build on”, said Mr. Madder .
INFORMATION: Bill Madder, 306-220-9570
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