British Columbia is grappling with a growing glut of empty condominiums, as thousands of newly built units across Metro Vancouver sit unsold and unoccupied. Analysts say the scale of the vacancy is something the region has not seen since around the mid to late 1990s, raising fresh questions about the health of the local housing market.
At the centre of the debate is a plan floated by Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby to use up to 3 billion dollars in taxpayer money to buy as many as 2,200 vacant condo units and convert them into affordable homes. Supporters present it as a way to put empty housing to use, but critics question who really benefits.
The numbers underline the problem. Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed that as of last month, more than 4,300 completed condos in Metro Vancouver were sitting empty, a 76 percent increase from the year before. Urban analyst Andy Yan, who crunched the figures, found that a third of all those empty condos were listed for more than a million dollars.
Yan is among those questioning the rationale for the plan. He asked how much of the proposal was really a way of helping out the industry rather than assisting buyers, framing it bluntly as a potential bailout. He also noted that Carney did not say whether the government planned to buy up units in bulk at below market value.
The criticism came from more than one direction. One British Columbia Conservative member of the legislature argued that red tape had driven up the cost of construction, contending that only government could tax and regulate an industry into a crisis and then turn around and offer it a bailout.
Industry voices, however, welcomed the prospect of support. The head of the British Columbia Construction Association said the funding could give builders certainty during tough economic times, offering them the confidence to move ahead with planning and building despite workforce and supply chain challenges.
Housing advocates were far less impressed. The head of the province's non-profit housing association accused the government of handing out money to developers just months after it axed the Community Housing Fund, a move that had put thousands of shovel ready affordable units in jeopardy. Spending public dollars to bail out the condo market or the private development sector, the advocate said, was a misuse of public funds. Neither the province nor Ottawa has released details on which units would be bought, or at what discount.