Housing affordability has been the centre of attention in B.C., particularly the Lower Mainland, for decades.
There are many causes for rising costs.
Politicians point the finger at developers; developers point the finger at governments that impose levies and taxes and development fees on every aspect of construction.
Add in fluctuating interest rates and increases in interprovincial migration, along with a significant upturn in immigration, and it adds up to ever-rising housing costs.
“Many want to put the majority of the blame on local governments,” says Raul Allueva, the chief administrative officer of the City of Coquitlam, “but that is a distortion of the facts.”
“There are myths and misconceptions about local government development cost charges,” he says, starting with using the word cost. Allueva says that is wrong — “The costs are cost recovery.”
Allueva joined a Conversation That Matters about how cities need to fund parks, roads and sewers.