Media Release - December 9, 2005 |
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Home Builders Call For Immediate Action On Housing Affordability |
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Victoria - The Canadian Home Builders’Association – Victoria, representing Greater Victoria’s home building professionals, and their provincial organization CHBA-BC, have declared housing affordability a top priority during the federal election campaign. Their theme is Housing Affordability for Canadians: The Right Time is Right Now! The association’s builders, renovators, trades and suppliers are a major source of employment and economic growth. Lindalee Brougham, President CHBA-Victoria and Chris Ricketts, President, CHBA-BC say there are three action items required to improve housing affordability for Canadians: 1. Index the GST rebate for new home buyers. Each year the federal government collects more than $150 million – money that rightfully belongs to buyers of new homes via indexed GST rebates. Indexation was promised, but never implemented, when the tax was introduced in 1989. Presently, there is no GST rebate for new homes priced above $450,000. During the last six months, the average price for a single family home in Greater Victoria was $479,244. Indexation would qualify 20,000 additional Canadians for the full GST rebate, thereby improving housing affordability in these times of rising interest rates. 2. Implement a national action plan to train skilled trades people desperately needed by the residential construction sector. There is no coherent federal program for addressing the acute skilled trades shortage now and in the future. This shortage contributes to increased labour costs for housing, and combines with already expensive land and materials to undermine housing affordability. A strong federal program could support local and CHBA-BC training initiatives, as well as improve labour market research to determine present and future needs. In addition, better immigration rules would allow more qualified people to enter Canada, and recognize the skills of workers already in the country. 3. Vigorously tackle the burgeoning underground economy, which siphons off tax revenue and undermines legitimate housing contractors. Billions of tax dollars continue to be lost through cash-only operators, while legitimate contractors face the bureaucratic costs of Canada’s ineffective Contract Payment Reporting System. The additional administrative expense of CPRS borne by legitimate contractors, combined with lost tax revenue from the government’s failed program add up to increased housing costs for all Canadians. “Greater Victoria’s housing costs are among the highest in the country, and this must be addressed during the election,” says Brougham. “We intend to make housing affordability a priority for all of the candidates throughout B.C.,” says Chris Ricketts, President, CHBA-BC. -30- News Directors/Editors: Contacts - Lindalee Brougham, President, CHBA-Victoria, 920-7020; Chris Ricketts, President, CHBA-BC, 727-8699; MJ Whitemarsh, CEO, CHBA-BC, (604) 340-4164. |