The province has allocated $2 billion to HousingHub to finance the construction of affordable housing — something the AMS and Graduate Student Society (GSS) say will directly benefit students.
HousingHub is a division of BC Housing that encourages developers to build affordable housing by providing low-interest loans. Developers then “pass these construction-cost savings” to the residents by having more affordable rents or sale prices.
In a press release, the province claimed that since 2018, HousingHub has developed over 3,400 homes.
Vancouver-Point Grey MP David Eby, attorney general and minister responsible for housing said in the press release that this $2 billion will be “transformative.”
“Demand for specific projects from builders already exists for the full first round of funding. And because this money is repaid once construction is done, it will build thousands of units of affordable housing again, again and again,” he said.
For too long, middle-income families have been priced out of the housing market, and the pandemic pushed prices even higher.
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) April 15, 2021
Today, we're committing $2 billion to build thousands of safe and secure homes that families can afford for years to come.
The AMS and GSS wrote in a joint press release that they “welcome” the announcement.
“Affordable housing continues to be a top priority for UBC students throughout the Lower Mainland. The announced investment brings forwards opportunities to fund the building of greater affordable rental housing options for students,” the press release reads.
But the broad mandate of the program raises questions on how the student societies will ensure that this money actually ends up benefiting students.
AMS VP External-elect Saad Shoaib and current AMS VP External Kalith Nanayakkara said this creates an opportunity for the society to push harder for student-specific housing support.
Shoaib said the external team will be pushing the government toward non-profit housing and cooperatives, particularly the AMS’s long-term project of developing co-op housing.
Nanayakkara said the HousingHub — specifically the community partnerships initiative — would be a good place to seek funding for the AMS’s housing project.
He called this a “win for advocacy,” but noted that more could be done.
“This announcement is good news in the sense that the government is looking at housing affordability as a priority. The next thing we need to see is that the provincial government is looking at affordable housing for students, specifically,” Nanayakkara said.
“That’s something we haven’t seen explicitly yet, but this is a great step in the right direction.”
Nanayakkara began his term as a member of the Ubyssey Publications Society Board of Directors in April 2021. The board has no say over The Ubyssey’s editorial operations.