B.C. helps finance First Nations-led housing development in Vancouver

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First-time homeowners will be at the front of the line for an Indigenous-led condominium project that B.C. will now help finance in Vancouver, the government announced Thursday.

The Heather Lands housing development, which first went before Vancouver city council in 2022, is now a joint venture between the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation (MST Development Corporation,) the federal government’s Canada Lands Co., Vancouver and the province.

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Premier David Eby said B.C. will chip in financing to help cover 40 per cent of the market cost. He said this is a loan which will be repaid at the end of 25 years or when the unit is sold. He estimated there would about $640 million in loans.

Priority will be given to first-time homebuyers, he said.

“Today, I’m announcing that we have partnered with the MST Nations to create 2,600 homes on this site, the Heather Land site that middle income British Columbians can actually afford,” said Eby.

The development includes commercial and cultural spaces in towers as high as 28 storeys. It would total 2.5 million square feet of floor space and involves an 85,000-square-metre site south of 33rd Avenue between Oak and Cambie streets.

Eby said the provincial contribution will allow potential homeowners to buy a home for 60 per cent of market value.

“What this means is that what we have created here together is a financing tool that protects taxpayers, that minimizes impact on public budgets, and yet, at the same time, delivers affordable housing now,” said Eby.

The units will be sold as 99-year leases.

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Eby said if they were for sale today, under current market conditions, a studio apartment on this site would sell for $620,000 but under this new plan would sell for $372,000. A two-bedroom condo would be $780,000 instead of $1.3 million, he added.

The way the plan works is the buyer will own the home, but initially finances and pays only 60 per cent of the market price for the unit using a traditional real estate transaction such as a down payment and financing through a mortgage.

The province initially finances and covers the remaining 40 per cent of the market price with the land owner and developer. The 40 per cent contribution is then repaid by the buyer to the province either when the owner sells the unit or after 25 years from the purchase date whichever comes first.

The buyer will also only need a five per cent deposit on 60 per cent of the initial market purchase price.

At a news conference Thursday, Eby admitted this is an agreement that could be rolled back should government change in the upcoming election.

“We have entered into an agreement. But it is theoretically possible for a future government to cancel this, although I don’t know why they would tell 2,600 families that they should be shut out of the real estate market. Although (Conservative leader) John Rustad has taken a number of positions on housing to shut families out of the real estate market that I can’t understand. So that would probably be the case,” he said.

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To be eligibility to buy one of the studio and one-bedroom leasehold apartments, buyers must be 18 or older and a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, have a total annual household income less than $131,950 (as of 2024) and net household assets less than $150,000, according to the government.

For a two-bedroom or larger home, buyers must have a total annual household income less than $191,910 (as of 2024) and net household assets less than $250,000.

Buyers must also not own an interest in any other property anywhere else in the world at the time of purchase closing.

If a buyer’s life circumstances change after qualifying at the pre-sale, for example their income increases, the buyer remains eligible.

ticrawford@postmedia.com

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