BC NDP promises to finance portion of thousands of new homes if re-elected

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby laughs after arriving at the airport in Terrace, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

David Eby and the BC NDP chose the Surrey-Cloverdale riding to announce another plank in the housing portion of their election campaign Wednesday morning.

The riding could prove to be a battleground as two sitting MLAs square off.

Mike Starchuk, the NDP incumbent, is up against Conservative Elenore Sturko, who held the riding of Surrey-South at the time of the writ drop.

When Sturko announced she would be defecting from BC United to the BC Conservatives, she also said she would be seeking election in the neighbouring riding.

Flanked by Surrey candidates at a Cloverdale townhouse complex, Eby promised $1.29-billion to help first time homebuyers get into the housing market if re-elected.

The plan calls for the province to finance 40 per cent of the cost of a home for middle-income earners.

It would apply to 25,000 newly constructed units and the NDP says it will partner with nonprofits, local governments and First Nations on the initiative.

“Everywhere I go, families tell me they dream of buying their first home – but decades of rampant speculation in the market has put it out of reach for too many,” Eby said in a news release.

“Our plan will make that dream come true for thousands of first-time, middle-class homebuyers by substantially reducing the listing price and the mortgage you will pay.”

He said buyers would only need to secure mortgages for 60 per cent of the cost, with the government providing a low-interest loan to cover the remaining 40 per cent.

Buyers would repay that loan when they sold the unit and the province would also be entitled to 40 per cent of any increased equity in the home.

Eby compared the plan to a recent agreement between the province and MST Development Corporation that will see 2,600 condos available under a similar financing arrangement at the site of the Heather Lands on the westside of Vancouver.

Details of that plan restrict qualifying buyers to those with annual household incomes less than $131,950 and stipulate the government portion of the loan to be repaid upon sale of the unit or 25 years after the purchase date.