BRIEFS & SUBMISSIONS 

In June 2023, the Housing Central partners submitted three key recommendations for the 2024 BC Budget, calling on the provincial government to:  

• Support AHMA’s Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
• Dedicate $24 million to offset the Property Transfer Tax of co-op lease renewals and Rental Protection Fund transactions 
• Allocate $60 million to exempt non-profit housing providers from paying property tax

Announced in February 2024, the new budget builds on the province’s commitment to bringing affordable housing solutions to British Columbians by expanding or increasing the budget for previously announced provincial housing measures, though there are some omissions and opportunities for improvement that are worth highlighting.   

Housing Central’s Budget 2023 consultation paper proposed several strategies to strengthen housing affordability in BC:  

• Move up $4.2 billion in housing supply investments so it can be spent immediately. The provincial government has $4.6 billion planned in housing investments between 2022 and 2028, and the community housing sector has the capacity to use over $4.2 billion to build over 10,000 affordable homes. 

• Support AHMA’s Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy, allocating funding for the planning and implementation stages of the key actions dedicated to addressing Indigenous housing needs across the province. 

Commit $500 million in capital funding to develop a rental housing acquisition strategy, that helps non-profit and co-operative housing providers acquire rental housing stock as it comes up for sale on the market to address the rapid loss of deeply affordable rental market homes. 

In 2022 Housing Central submitted three key recommendations to support the growth of the community housing sector and ensure everyone in BC has a safe, affordable home: 

• Move up $4.2 billion in housing supply investments so it can be spent immediately. The provincial government has $4.6 billion planned in housing investments between 2022 and 2028, we would like to see $4.2 billion of that money moved up to the 2022-2023 budget cycle to address immediate needs. 

• Commit $500 million in capital funding to develop a provincial rental housing acquisition strategy, that helps non-profit and co-operative housing providers in the community housing sector to acquire rental housing stock as it comes up for sale on the market. 

• Dedicate $10 million to off-set Property Transfer Tax on land lease renewals to preserve current levels of affordability for homes on land with expiring land leases in 2022-2023.