Poilievre plans to use money set aside in the Liberal’s Housing Accelerator Fund which he says has been ineffective.
Housing
California Senate passes 0 down, 0 payment home ‘loans’ for illegal immigrants
From The Center Square
“With many legal residents not able to afford a home, should we really be giving free cash to illegal immigrants?
The California Senate passed a contentious bill to allow for undocumented immigrants to use the state’s zero-down, zero-interest home “loans” program despite national backlash following coverage of the bill’s looming passage.
With 23 votes for and 11 votes against — including all nine Republicans and Democratic State Sens. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, and Dave Min, D-Irvine — the bill narrowly passed the 21 vote majority threshold in the Senate.
California’s Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program allows applicants to secure “loans” of up to $150,000 or 20% of the home’s purchase price — or, about what a typical down payment is — with zero down payment on this state “loan,” and no payments. In exchange, the state receives the original loan amount plus 20% of the appreciated gain when the home is refinanced, sold, or transferred.
In the last fiscal year, the state allocated $255 million for the program for 1,700 lucky “winners” of an application lottery. KCRA reports that the California Department of Finance confirmed this year, legislators did not appropriate any money for the program, meaning this bill allowing undocumented immigrants to apply would only apply in future years when additional funds are provided. With the state narrowly balancing a $47 billion deficit this year, the state may not be able to allocate funding to this program for some time.
It’s not clear what happens if a family decides to hold on to a home as there are no provisions on how long a property can be held for, which means certain kinds of trusts could potentially allow the loan to not be paid back. Democrats argued those applying for the funds have to work to qualify for mortgages and are thus paying taxes, while Republicans argued the program, which ran out of funds in 11 days, is already overcrowded.
“With many legal residents not able to afford a home, should we really be giving free cash to illegal immigrants? Every dollar that goes to an illegal immigrant is one less dollar available to legal residents including veterans, teachers, and families,” said California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, in a statement. “California already spends $5 billion per year on free healthcare for illegal immigrants—will it ever be enough for Democrats’ political agendas?”
AB 1840, which has now passed both the California Senate and Assembly, must now pass back again in the Assembly with the Senate’s amendments before the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31 before going to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for approval.
Kenneth Schrupp
Reporter
Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays
Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.
Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.
The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.
“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”
“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”
Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.
Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.
“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”
Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.
“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”
Quick Facts
- Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
- Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
- Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
- Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
- Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
- Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
- Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
- Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
- Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.
Related information
From a Conservative Party of Canada news release
In a video released Monday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has announced a plan to lower the cost of a new home’s worth under $1 million dollars.
Poilievre says a conservative government will axe the sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million.
That would cut the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 or a $500,000 home by $25,000.
Accordingly Poilievre says this will lead to the building of an extra 30,000 new homes every year.
The news could get even better as the PM hopeful says he’ll push provinces to drop their sales tax as well.
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