Housing is important to the quality of life in B.C., whether you rent or own.

Increasing the number of homes built along transit corridors, raising the property transfer tax threshold and incentivizing faster approval processes are all necessary to improve housing affordability across the province. The British Columbia Real Estate Association has proposed a '5 pillar approach' to addressing affordability challenges being faced by both renters and homeowners. Some of which are:

-BCREA would like to ensure the propery transfer tax (PTT) reflects the market and proposes increasing the exemption threshold for first-time buyers and to raise the 2% PTT threshold from $200,000 to $525,000

-they would like to assist homeowners and renters by increasing the withdrawal limit of the Home Buyers' Plan and extending eligibility to those who relocated to secure employment.

-they would like to encourage more rental housing by creating more housing stock and by allowing investment real estate sellers to recapture previously claimed depreciation and allowing a deferral of capital gains tax.

BCREA CEO Robert Laing points to the idea of connecting government programs with inflation as one fo the major recommendations in the plan.

He goes on to say, "The real estate market changes over time, and programs like the provincial PTT and the federal Home Buyers' Plan need  to accurately reflect the market and the economy.

The Canadian Home Builders' Association of BC has endorsed the plan.