• sbv@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    The plan announced today by the Liberals would create a new federal housing entity that the party says would oversee affordable housing construction, speed up construction and provide financing to homebuilders.

    Carney says the new agency, Build Canada Homes, would act as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands, and develop and manage projects.

    I really want to see the details on this one.

    The second paragraph suggests BCH would do the building, while the first paragraph’s “oversee” suggests existing developers would do the work. If BCH will finance construction, control where/what gets built, and control the final cost to buyers, then this has the potential to sell decent housing at below-market prices. That could start diffusing the housing crisis (although other reforms are necessary to improve costs in the near term).

    That would be very different from what the Liberals and CPC have been proposing so far, which is to ask developers to pwetty pwease lower sale costs by making it easier and cheaper to build. It’s hard to be optimistic given their track record.

    • gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com
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      3 days ago

      Would love if the government is finally going back to its strategy from the 70s and taking charge here to build affordable housing instead of waiting for magical altruist developer unicorns to swoop in and save us.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      Sounds like the new entity would do all of the above. Which makes sense. If they’re builders willing to build what the government wants, they’ll gett the money. But the government won’t wait for such developers to volunteer. Instead it’ll start the development itself, perhaps hiring developers to execute the actual building.

      • sbv@sh.itjust.works
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        3 days ago

        But the government won’t wait for such developers to volunteer. Instead it’ll start the development itself, perhaps hiring developers to execute the actual building.

        That’s what I’m afraid of: Canadian transit has suffered due to that kind of public/private partnership.

        Whatever arrangement the new crown corporation arrives at, I hope they’re able to keep costs down.

        • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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          3 days ago

          Oh I’m not afraid this would go the way of the transit P3s horror shows. Buildings, especial lower than 10-20 storey are simple, with known solutions. We knew how to do this in 1960 and we know it today. A close relative is a structural engineer and from what I gather we don’t do anything complicated and even significant fuckups can be (and are) tolerated. There are few risks during the actual design and building of such buildings. High rises are more complex.

    • Cows Look Like Maps@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      In the video this article is based on, Carney says he will create an entity called “Build Canada Homes” that “will act as a developer on new, affordable housing projects.”