Quebec’s politicians urged to address the needs of homeowners during the election campaign
Immigration, education and health care may be getting the biggest headlines during the Quebec election campaign, but the non-profit organization representing the province’s 11 real estate boards and 13,000 real estate brokers thinks politicians should be paying more attention to matters that affect current and future homeowners.
The Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) has issued a list of priorities that it wants the next Quebec government to adopt in order to better protect homeowners and to encourage home ownership in the province.
“A healthy real estate market equals a healthy economy. Anything that can be done to make sure that it is healthy, all the better,” said QFREB CEO Pénéla Guy. “If you think about the almost $30 billion in investment that is generated by the housing industry and the estimated 172,000 jobs it creates, it has a big impact on the Quebec economy.”
Guy believes the election campaign is the perfect opportunity to educate and inform the province’s leaders about housing issues. She wants to make sure any incoming government takes measures that will boost home ownership in Quebec which, at 61 per cent, is considerably lower than the Canadian average of 68 per cent.
The priorities put forward by the QFREB during this election campaign are designed to close that gap by offering greater consumer protection to future homeowners and additional support for existing ones. Here is what they are suggesting:
1. Regulate Real estate sales consultants
The QFREB is not against homeowners having the right to sell their own homes, but they want the Office de la protection du consommateur to regulate and monitor companies that offer real estate sales consulting services similar to those used by licensed realtors. “We want to make sure the public is well informed,” Guy said. “If you use the services of a company and you think the person who is advising you is a professional who has training, is covered by insurance and has all those other protections that are provided when you use a broker, then you are being misled.”
2. adoption of co-owneRship RefoRm
The QFREB wants the rights, powers and obligations of joint ownership of condominiums to be regulated in order to better protect buyers. It urges the next government to reintroduce the provisions of Bill 401, notably those that ensure the creation or better management of contingency funds.
3. pRohibit the gRowing of maRijuanainthehome
The QFREB wants all of the province’s political parties to adopt the outgoing government’s hard line against home cultivation of cannabis because of the potential it has to negatively impact the value of homes and the health of residents, most notably in the form of mould.
4. oveRsight of building inspectoRs
Because anyone can call themselves a building inspector, the QFREB believes there is a lack of consistency in the quality of home inspections. The group wants the government to better regulate the profession in order to ensure standardized training and to yield more consistent inspection reports. “You have very serious, very good building inspectors and then you have those who will say whatever you want them to say,” Guy said. “We need to enhance the level of professionalism and set uniform standards so that homebuyers can be confident when they purchase a property.”
5. maintain financial assistance pRogRams foR homeowneRs
Quebec has several financial assistance programs in place to defray the costs associated with ridding properties of natural scourges like invasive Eurasian water-milfoil or dry rot fungus or to repair concrete that crumbles because it contains pyrrhotite. The QFREB wants the next government to maintain these programs and to be flexible enough to implement new ones as other issues arise.
6. eliminate the welcome tax foR fiRst-time homebuyeRs
Recent changes to mortgage rules have made it more difficult for some first-time buyers to enter the real estate market. For several years, the QFREB has been asking the government to reimburse the welcome tax for first-time buyers. “We’ve looked at many scenarios at how first-time homebuyers can be helped and eliminating this tax is definitely a measure that we think would have the most impact,” Guy said.
7. maintain Renovation cRedits
Quebec has a long history of offering tax credits to encourage home renovations, often with an eye to making homes more environmentally friendly. The most recent examples are the tax credit for the upgrading of residential waste-water treatment systems and the RénoVert tax credit, both of which the QFREB believes the government should maintain and even expand upon.