The B.C. government has released the names of 10 municipalities that will be required to hit housing targets or risk being overruled by the Housing Ministry.
The Housing Supply Act sets housing targets for municipalities using a carrot and stick approach. The carrot for municipalities that meet those targets comes in the form of provincial cash for amenities, such as parks, bike lanes and recreation centres. For those that don’t meet the targets, the stick is the threat of being overruled by the province, which has the power to rezone entire neighbourhoods to create more density.
Eby has previously singled out Oak Bay council for rejecting multi-unit housing projects on single-family lots. Oak Bay consistently has among the lowest housing starts in the Capital Regional District, with 27 new homes approved in 2021 compared to 1,741 approved in Langford. Neil Moody, CEO of the Canadian Homebuilders’ Association of B.C., said in a statement the move to selecting the first round of communities “is a welcome next step toward implementing the resources and guidance that have long been needed to reduce red tape and speed up approval processes to boost housing stock across B.C.”Eby has shown he’s willing to override municipalities and neighbourhood groups opposed to density in order to get new housing built.