What do you think about my 5 Reasons NOT to Gripe about Real Estate Investors?
This year, we’ve seen some serious leaps toward improving permitting processes to encourage development and unlock much-needed housing supply. The depth of our crisis is appreciated more than ever.
Even so, some people in our communities are still uncomfortable with the push for more development. They’re quick to gribe about real estate investors and developers, without taking a step back to look at the full picture.
So today, I am sharing with you 5 reasons to think twice before complaining about real estate investors—and some ideas about how we can all work together to unlock housing supply in a way that’s thoughtful, impactful, efficient, and effective.
1. First, the hard facts: In order to keep up with immigration, Canada needs 5.8 million new homes by 2030.
Simply put, our current numbers aren’t cutting it. A one-bedroom in Vancouver goes for $2800/mo today. If we want to house current residents and new immigrants, new housing must be developed. Real estate investors are the ones who will invest in the development of housing supply.
2. Without real estate investors, multi-family projects aren’t possible.
We need housing density. Multiplexes and large apartment complexes.
The reality is that single-family property owners do not have the expertise or capital to redevelop their homes into multiplexes. Real estate investors are the essential ingredient that will support development of the types of properties that will unlock thousands of new housing opportunities.
3. Many Canadian landholders are property-rich—but cash-poor.
In BC and throughout Canada, many families and nonprofits are sitting on acres of unused land that they would be open to developing. However, accessing the capital to kickstart these developments is often a challenge.
Through programs like Uplift Fund, real estate investors are able to partner with these landholders, providing the funds to redevelop their properties into much-needed housing.
4. The Government doesn’t have the cash or talent.
Looking to government to solve the housing crisis? Wherever you are on the political spectrum, the bottom line is that very few government organizations have the cash or the talent to make a dent in the total supply of 5.8 million homes. Largely, private developers need to do it.
5. We need non-profits to work within their service mandate.
Non-profits provide incredibly important community services. Though many non-profits own fabulous sites, in most cases, developing their land is a massive distraction from their core mandate. If we’ve learned anything since the National Housing Strategy came out in 2017 it is that it is generally unreasonable to burden non-profit groups with the role of real estate developer.
Do these 5 not to gripe about real estate investors resonate with you?
Tegan