Rich Coleman tells forum Liberals would offer rental incentives for homeowners

B.C. Liberal candidate Rich Coleman raised the possibility ofnew incentives for homeowners to createrental units on theirproperties during a housing forum Wednesday.

"We're going to put some money on the table, up to $20,000 for people to convert their basement into a basement suite, or a form of additional housing on their property for rental," Coleman tolda housing forum hosted by the Real EstateBoard of Greater Vancouver.

The B.C. Liberalsmakeno mention of such a planin their platform, but Coleman said it would come from the expansion of an existinghome renovation tax credit for making home improvements to accommodate seniors or family members with disabilities, which they're proposing to double from $10,000 to $20,000.

Much of the forumfocused on the Liberal party's newly-implementedHome Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership program, which provides a maximum of $37,500 or up to five per cent of the purchase price. The loanis interest-freeand payment-free for the first five years of a 25-year mortgage.

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"Over 1,000 people have qualified, in less than two months," said Coleman, who said about 140 of those people were from Vancouver.

"If you take 4,000 people and move them into the marketplace, and say only 70 per are renters today, that'sstill 28,000 units of rental housing."

The program was criticized by the forum's other two participants, the NDP's David Eby and Green Party candidate David Wong.

"To this day, I still can't figure out why the government took on a program to encourage people to take on additional debt, to encourage additional demand, when clearly we have a supply program," said Eby.

"The minister is wrong, he knows he's wrong.

"I think it's a dumb program. I think we need affordable housing supply."

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Wong said there is a risk that homeowners won't be able to afford mortgage payments if interest rates rise.

"It's a very dangerous situation to encourage people to jump people into the marketplace when they're not ready," he said.

"This is something that has to be drilled into people who are thinking of entering the market. We need people to go to the market without being given false hope."

The forum occurred the same day thatNDP leader John Horgan saidhe would introduce an annual $400 renter's rebate if his party wins the provincial election on May 9.