Greens pushing for end to ‘speculative’ farmland sales

The leader of the Green party in B.C. wants to see the government ban foreigners from buying farmland in a bid to cool the province’s real estate market.

Housing prices in Metro Vancouver dipped temporarily after the previous B.C. Liberal government implemented a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers last summer. But Green Leader Andrew Weaver said buyers quickly started looking elsewhere for investment properties, including farmland, where the levy doesn’t apply.

Many non-residents are buying land zoned for agricultural use, but instead of farming, they’re building large homes and selling the property for inflated prices, he said.

“We’re seeing a preponderance of mega-mansions starting to appear on what formerly was agricultural land in parts of Metro Vancouver,” Weaver said.

“While that may incentivize the construction industry in the area, it’s not boding well for the long term, in which the agricultural land is slowly but surely being taken out of production.”

Using agricultural land for pricey homes instead of farming drives up real estate prices and decreases food security, Weaver said. “We’re now in a situation where land and houses are being treated as commodities that are traded like gold or potash or silver as opposed to their purpose,” he said.

Tom Davidoff, a business professor at the University of B.C, said he doesn’t see how prohibiting foreign buyers from purchasing farmland would impact affordability. But limiting large homes on agricultural land makes sense. “Better you should turn it into apartments than ridiculous luxury homes.”