By Kevin Lee, CHBA CEO
Over the last couple months, our advocacy feet have been firmly on the gas, and it’s paying off in droves.
In late September, the federal government introduced several measures to support the residential construction sector.
Most notably, the federal government expanded CHBA’s ask on 30-year amortizations for insured mortgages – which was secured for first-time buyers on new construction homes back in April – to include all buyers of new construction homes, and all first-time buyers on any home, new or resale.
High wins
To complement this new measure, the federal government also fulfilled another CHBA recommendation by upping the cap on insured mortgages from $1 million to $1.5 million to better reflect the reality of today’s home prices. This will enable homebuyers to qualify for mortgages in Canada’s most expensive markets.
These are huge wins for CHBA members. Better access to mortgages will drive more sales and housing starts and give the industry a chance to build the homes Canada needs to close the supply gap.
Moreover, homeowners looking to add an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to their home can now refinance their current mortgage to help construct a secondary suite. Borrowers can access up to 90 per cent of the home’s value, including the value of the extra suite, and amortize the refinanced mortgage over a period of 30 years. To support this, the federal government also increased the mortgage insurance home price limit to $2 million for those refinancing to build a secondary suite.
CHBA has long called for measures to allow for gentle density, including adding secondary suites or other types of ADUs like laneway homes. This will go a long way to assist homeowners who are looking to achieve that. However, it will be important that more municipalities get on board with zoning and by-law reform to allow for gentle density, a topic that CHBA is consistently engaged on.
While lower interest rates and other policy steps have been taken by the federal government, many of our members’ challenges persist. CHBA’s Q3 Housing Market Index (HMI) revealed that builders are expecting weak sales with fewer starts moving forward. For the ninth consecutive quarter, both the single- and multi-family HMI showed very negative homebuilder sentiment, and respondents citing issues with access to labour, materials shortages and more.
We know that the housing supply and affordability crisis won’t be fixed overnight. This quarter’s low HMI scores indicate that we can’t stop putting pressure on governments for holistic, housing-supportive policy change.
Bold and decisive action
Bold and decisive action is needed, including at the provincial and municipal levels, to turn the market around and significantly increase housing starts to address our country’s affordability challenges. That’s why CHBA has been proactive in advocating for change with all federal parties.
CHBA continues to push the current government to use its levers to effect change, and we are also diligently engaging with the Office of the Leader of the Opposition (OLO) regularly to ensure the needs of our industry are top-of-mind in the event of an election.
To indicate CHBA’s impact with the OLO, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, Scott Aitchison, made a surprise appearance at CHBA’s National Fall Meetings in October to speak with local and provincial EOs on a wide variety of topics impacting housing.
And last month, after numerous conversations with CHBA, the Conservatives announced their intention to eliminate the GST on all new homes sold for less than $1 million, should they form government – later pushing the provinces to do the same. This would be a welcome measure, as it addresses a long-standing CHBA ask to fix the GST/HST New Housing Rebate.
Announcements like these reflect continued strong advocacy by the Association, whether that be through CHBA’s Day on the Hill, various parliamentary committee meeting appearances, or ongoing activity by members and national, provincial and local staff. And we’re not stopping now. We encourage CHBA members to stay up to date on our progress by following CHBA’s Industry Highlights, our media aggregator on housing issues with commentary. Subscribe through your website account or email communications@chba.ca.
