B.C. NDP vows to help middle-income homebuyers with 40% financing

New Democrat Leader David Eby says he will help more middle-class, first-time buyers into the housing market with a plan for the province to finance 40 per cent of the price.

Eby said his Homes for People plan will commit up to $1.29 billion per year in financing, while supporting the development of up to 25,000 new units over five years.

The government will partner with non-profit organizations, local governments, First Nations and market-housing providers to identify land and projects for development, he said.

Eby said government financing and the use of low-cost land would allow builders to offer units for sale at 40 per cent below market prices, and buyers would need to come up with the remaining 60 per cent.

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"The benefit of this plan means that people will be able to buy with a smaller down payment," he said at an outdoor news conference during heavy rain.

"Their monthly payments will be lower and will be affordable and the taxpayers will be protected," said Eby. "If home values go up, revenue to the province goes up and resources for more affordable housing projects are more available."

He said taxpayers are also protected if home prices drop.

"This is a loan," Eby said. "This is not a grant. The homeowner pays interest on it just like they would on any kind of financing."

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When the buyer sells their unit, the NDP saidthe province's contribution must be repaid, plus 40 per cent of the appreciation value of the home.

Eby said he hears from families across the province telling him their dream of owning a home is out of reach.

The NDP leader said when the buyer sells, the province's contribution must be repaid, plus 40 per cent of the appreciation value of the home.

Eby said if units under the plan are not sold the provincial contribution would need to be repaid 25 years after the date of purchase.

The proposal uses the same model as a project Eby recently announced with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

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Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, said housing policies typically deal with supply, demand and finance and the NDP's promise looked to deal with the financial aspect.

He said the program looked to gethouseholdsmaking above $100,000 a year onto the housing ladder.

"It just goes into the question, is this really where the greatest need is in terms of housing versus ... renters and those living in core housing as well as low-income households?" Yanasked.

He saysrenters make up around 30 per cent of B.C. households.

The professor said the NDP had yet to release firm policies on how they would help the province's renters, in contrast to the Conservatives' promise to issue tax rebates to homeowners and renters alike.

"The question will be how these policies will be implemented, and also how will transparency be enforced?" Yan asked."As we've seen with additional stories coming from the CBC, the enforcement, the implementation of these policies are also up for abuse."

Green leader promises carbon rebates

Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau was in Victoria to lay out her party's position on the carbon tax.

While Eby and Rustad are promising to end the tax, either in part or completely, Furstenau told reporters Wednesday that a Green government would maintain a price on carbon that increases annually, but put larger rebates into people's pockets.

"Carbon pollution is expensive, and to not have a price on that, to not have a price that we then return back to people, that we return to communities, so that they can become more resilient in the face of these climate events, is folly," she said.

Furstenau said closing a series of loopholes she sees in the current policy, including carbon offsets for companies, would bring in more than an extra $1 billion, which then could be used to increase the rebate sent to British Columbians.

"We will increase the price of carbon, but unlike before, we will not be a burden on the household budgets of people," she said.

Furstenau said a portion of the revenue would also go to municipalities, something that was requested by delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention in the lead-up to the election campaign.

The Green leader said she's not focused on how her policy position would mesh with the other leaders in the event of a minority government provincially.

"We are being transparent about where we stand. We are putting out evidence-based solutions. We want the other parties to catch up with us. I'm not focused on what is going to happen after the election," she said.