The B.C. provincial and federal governments are right to be looking for solutions to B.C.'s housing market troubles, but the condo bailout plan is flawed, says the leader of a housing company based in Port Alberni. 

Joshua Hunt, founder and CEO of IGV Housing, says the looming plan for the government to purchase a large inventory of unsold condos in B.C. misunderstands the problems the regional housing market is facing. 

"I do like that the government is looking for opportunities about the way that they can actually help solve the housing problem that we currently have in B.C.," Hunt told RENX Homes in an interview. 

But the plan is like "jamming a square peg in a round hole,” he said. 

Hunt’s reasoning is that much of the condo inventory in Vancouver was designed and built for a specific owner and users, often investors. Looking at available condos in Vancouver and jumping to the conclusion they can be used as long-term homes for a typical Vancouver residents or families might be misunderstanding the issue. 

Cost of delivering homes is the bigger problem

The cost to deliver a home is high and continues to rise while the process for a Canadian to finance and buy a home hasn't changed in over 100 years, Hunt argued.  

"Because you've got (high) land (prices), you've got taxes, you've got municipal charges, you've got all of these consultants," he said. "When you start looking at the consultant list every time that we build a new house, it's staggering."

Every step and touchpoint adds to the cost of the home, but often each multifamily housing project is treated like a one-off, or a prototype, Hunt said. "We reinvent the wheel. How many times have we actually built a house across the world?

"Why do we have to do everything from scratch every time? And that's where there's a lot of inefficiencies."

The goal then is to work with the province and the municipalities to pre-approve housing sets and reduce the number of people who need to touch a project and get their slice of the cost. 

Beau Jarvis, president and CEO with B.C. development company Wesgroup, has also been vocal in his criticisms of government housing policy and development costs. In a recent podcast episode of The Hub, he said the condo bailout plan wouldn't provide relief in Vancouver because the overall prices of the homes remain too high. 

Jarvis said they should be finding ways to reduce development cost charges, community amenity contributions and taxes that home builders face. "It's well documented that up to 30 per cent of the cost of new housing is fees, levies and taxes by all levels of government," he said.

Hybrid building system could make construction more efficient

IGV Housing and its affiliates IGV Build Systems and IGV Hope are working towards a couple of different solutions they believe can help make home-buying and home-building more efficient and less costly.

One potential solution is their hybrid construction system. The system involves producing pre-engineered building components, including SmartCore units, volumetric panel systems and building packages in their Port Alberni facilities. The system can be applied to single family, duplexes and multiplexes. It is in the process of developing a solution for multifamily buildings up to six storeys. 

SmartCore is a fully manufactured unit that incorporates all the plumbing, the electrical, the kitchen and the bathroom in a single space or pod. The company also assembles the finishing materials for the home including flooring, siding, lighting and roofing components.

The company says the result is a complete building system packed into a coordinated delivery that arrives site ready. Among their clients are developers and builders working on infill projects or “gentle density.” 

Program aims to up-end the homebuying process

"Then we have IGV Hope, and this is changing the way that we are buying homes,” Hunt added. 

The program is designed to allow a homebuyer to secure a home today at current value but without the obligation to close on the property for another ten years. Hunt says this would delay the closing costs and mortgage burdens typically handled at the start of a home purchase. 

The process would include agreeing on a price of a home, signing a contract and moving in. Over the next ten years, the residents pay an “occupancy contribution” while — presumably — saving money before transitioning to ownership at 10 years, completing closing costs and starting a mortgage.

"The way the Hope program works is we turn (homebuying) upside down,” Hunt said.

He said their IGV Hope program is just getting started and hasn't been rolled out at large scale, but they're optimistic it could gain traction in a market like Metro Vancouver. 

"The power of getting government and institutional investment behind this (strategy) is going to make all of the difference in the world, and we're a long way down that track,” Hunt said.