A letter from a B.C. resident highlights the need for immediate and decisive federal action on the province’s seemingly unstoppable upward spiral of price growth
Over the past few years, British Columbia has seen dramatic growth in its real estate prices, and probably nothing demonstrates the effects of this development more clearly than an impassioned letter from a Britannia Beach resident.
In his missive to The Squamish Chief published on Wednesday (April 13), B.C. local Ralph Fulber said that the skyrocketing cost of even getting a first home in the province is driving a significant fraction of the population into choosing more financially manageable options.
“Get two people in a room and there will be two opinions around affordable housing. Squamish and the Lower Mainland are going through a profound shift in land values and utility; rentals and ownership have been transformed, and Airbnb has become a factor,” Fulber wrote.
“Many people in Squamish are losing the ability to stay at good jobs and maintain old relationships when they are forced to vacate rental properties being sold or are no longer able to afford the high prices,” he said, adding that federal authorities have already waited long enough to take decisive action.
Fulber noted that he and many of his fellow locals agree with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s previously announced plan of initiating a wide-reaching affordable infrastructure program via the Bank of Canada, as this would yield a positive outcome for the country’s housing sector in the logn run.
“Providing government funds to get young people started without debt is not a novel policy,” Fulber said. “Without having to qualify for or bear the pressure of high mortgage payments, people could purchase homes and build equity towards a retirement fund that is cashed out later in life.”
“This is a working idea that merits consideration. The only people this would upset are the commercial banks that have been given a monopoly on money creation,” Fulber stated. “Tell them: Live with it.”
In his missive to The Squamish Chief published on Wednesday (April 13), B.C. local Ralph Fulber said that the skyrocketing cost of even getting a first home in the province is driving a significant fraction of the population into choosing more financially manageable options.
“Get two people in a room and there will be two opinions around affordable housing. Squamish and the Lower Mainland are going through a profound shift in land values and utility; rentals and ownership have been transformed, and Airbnb has become a factor,” Fulber wrote.
“Many people in Squamish are losing the ability to stay at good jobs and maintain old relationships when they are forced to vacate rental properties being sold or are no longer able to afford the high prices,” he said, adding that federal authorities have already waited long enough to take decisive action.
Fulber noted that he and many of his fellow locals agree with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s previously announced plan of initiating a wide-reaching affordable infrastructure program via the Bank of Canada, as this would yield a positive outcome for the country’s housing sector in the logn run.
“Providing government funds to get young people started without debt is not a novel policy,” Fulber said. “Without having to qualify for or bear the pressure of high mortgage payments, people could purchase homes and build equity towards a retirement fund that is cashed out later in life.”
“This is a working idea that merits consideration. The only people this would upset are the commercial banks that have been given a monopoly on money creation,” Fulber stated. “Tell them: Live with it.”
