PREMIER URGES JOINT ACTION ON HOUSING INITIATIVES

BC GOV NEWS
VICTORIA – Premier Gordon Campbell encouraged local governments to work with the Province to build more affordable housing and facilities to support people with mental illness and addictions through concerted actions aimed at increasing densities, reducing building costs and achieving net benefits for the environment. “There are two major components to addressing the need for affordable housing,” said Campbell in his address to the UBCM convention. “The first is to lower building costs to make construction more affordable and the second is to leave more money in people’s pockets so they can afford housing. We’ve taken action on both and now we want to work with communities to move projects forward faster. “Sometimes, it is not politically popular to create homeless shelters, halfway houses, rehab centres or mental health facilities,” said Campbell. “We need to get passed the small ‘p’ politics, and face the reality that we simply can no longer afford not to make better use of our local land base, not to shrink processing times, not to reduce the burden of fees and not to build smaller units. The time to act is now and we will work with communities to use our land more effectively and create affordable housing solutions.” The Premier also announced that the Province will increase the shelter allowance for income assistance recipients for the first time since 1994 in the next provincial budget as part of its ongoing commitment to expand affordable housing options for British Columbians. “Since 2001 we’ve built or committed to almost 11,000 more units of affordable housing, but in addition to building affordable housing we need to make housing more affordable – especially for those who need that support the most. We’ll increase the housing allowance in the next budget and we’ll keep working with local governments to find new ways to ensure British Columbians have access to the safe, affordable housing they deserve.” Premier Campbell also urged local government leaders to find innovative solutions to accelerate construction of affordable housing and reduce costs for the benefit of British Columbians. “Delays, land costs, permit costs, building costs, development costs – these are all barriers to making housing affordable for B.C. families,” Campbell said. “Local governments have a role to play in helping us bring down those barriers, whether its increasing density or addressing zoning issues. We need to tackle those challenges if we’re going to build the kind of livable, thriving, safe communities we all want.”