That you regard any affordability solution that is not related to supply as a mystery is kinda telling
What else can be done ‘except zoning reform’? Really? Fine. These are not my recommendations but here’s a list of possibilities 1. You could crack down harder on foreign money. Crank the FBT to 30%, 50%, 100% whatever
2. Or you could just ban foreign buying completely
3. Advocate hard for the end of all wealth determined migration and instead direct intake to skilled worker or compassionate programs
4. Prevail on the CRA to do what its auditors said long ago needed to be done and audit the bejeesus out of low-income purchasers of high-value #VanRe
5. End the loophole that allows the sale of real-estate-owning shell companies without the imposition of property sale tax
6. Make it impossible to buy real estate or a real-estate-owning shell company without full disclosure of beneficial ownership
7. Crank up supply and get government back in the game of building affordable housing instead of subcontracting the task to the private sector
8. Ban large political donations by corporations to lessen whatever role that the development industry plays in housing policy
9. Crank up to so-called-but-not-really “speculation tax”
10. Impose a real speculation tax at levels that hurt
11. Get BC SEC to regulate some aspects of the real estate game
12. Educate yourself and others and encourage civic engagement, particularly by the young and poor and marginalized who lack $$ to simply fund advocacy that they favour
And that might be a start
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh