The ottawa for the Canada Rental Protection Fund intended of 1.5 billion US dollars for the purchase of apartments as part of the Build Canada Homes Agency is expected to arouse interest from landlords, including the country's two largest apartment rides.
However, a broker openly wonders whether the program, which is accepted as part of the Federal Government's 13 -billion dollar plan to promote affordable living space, is sold to the facilities at excessive prices.
Mark Goodman, a director at Goodman Commercial, a leading broker in Vancouver in the area of the apartment, said that the fund in his province has already been “overpaid”.
“If you maintain older buildings, you do not increase affordable living space and actually reduce the number of units that are available to the majority of tenants,” said Goodman and added that many of the buildings purchased need considerable repairs.
The Liberals had previously promised the fund with a financial financing of $ 470 million and no longer repeatable contributions and a low-interest loan of $ 1 billion.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that the new federal authority that built Canada Homes will have access to the government's agricultural portfolio, including 88 federal property, which include 463 hectares. It will focus on building factory -built houses and working with the industry.
Ottawa wants to buy “endangered rental apartment buildings” with $ 1.5 billion for apartments to ensure that they remain affordable in the long term.
British Columbia already has a rent protection fund of $ 500 million, and last year, Canadian apartment real estate, the largest investment trust in the country, sold several buildings to the province and other municipal and non-profit groups across Canada.
“The bigger problem is actually the fact that the funds issued for these buildings do not aim at the tenants who need help,” said Goodman, who believes that the strategy of developing living space on government country is better sensible. “We have to start building and realizing that there is no other way to solve this problem except for massive care.”
Mark Kenney, Managing Director of Canadian Apartment Properties, said that his riding had campaigned for the federal fund with other listed landlords.
“One of the appeals when selling these buildings is that they are not affordable,” said Kenney, noting that those who live in them put a significant part of their income towards rent. “The lowest monthly rental buildings have the largest income shortage. The higher the monthly rent, the cheaper they are.”
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has determined an affordability of 30 percent of the housing construction income. Kenney said in the newer buildings of the Reit that the tenants are below this threshold, while in the older buildings almost 70 percent of the income are required for rent.
The riding does not want to part of these older income -related buildings, since they are often held responsible for the Canadian affordability crisis. Kenney likes to sell.
“That's why we get out and we get out as soon as possible,” said the CEO, adding that he did not agree that the sales prices in British Columbia were unfair. “We carry out a market process. Our strategy is also to exercise good corporate citizenship with the government.”
The Boardwalk, the largest apartment riding in the West Canada, is also ready to sell some of its older assets.
“It is a great way to increase the per capita amount of affordable houses immediately and usually much cheaper to buy existing rental communities as brand new,” said Sam Kolias, CEO and Boardwalk.
Paul Kershaw, professor at the University of British Columbia and founder of the Generation Squeeze Denial Factory, said that the national strategy for the use of existing government country was something that the group pushed for in Ottawa.
He said that the establishment of a fund for the preservation of existing units and the acquisition of riding prevents them from being converted or renovated into newer, more expensive units.
“It makes sense that if your national housing strategy tries to scale and protect existing affordable non -markets, protect this type of rent that some needed dollars, then the public can occur and make it affordable so that a non -profit organization is to do it,” said Kershaw.