Eby says there are proposals at the federal level to sell public land and buildings to help solve the crisis, but B.C. is doing the opposite by taking inventory of provincially and municipally owned land in order to build more homes.
He told the BC Non-profit Housing Association’s annual conference his government is the right one to tackle the housing crisis as the province faces “huge challenges.”
Or reuse some already-built housing. Large condo buildings cause gentrification; buy a portion of the units and make them affordable housing, below or non-market units. You save yourself the trouble and the building expenses, you can still raise taxes on ‘land-owners’ and you house people in dire need of housing. You also revitalize and degentrify areas. A lot of condos are owned as second-homes that are rented out, so the owners wont be unhoused. If they are concerned about loss of income, we all get together, push for raising taxes on the richest and on corporations and implement universal basic income.
(As an aside, a lot of buildings not-intended for housing that are not occupied can be repurposed as housing. We just need political will).