Ontario Green Leader Mike Schreiner said that if elected his party would end blind bidding and introduce a province-wide tax on owners of multiple homes and vacant properties.
Schreiner was set to announce on Monday the Green’s plan to support first-time homebuyers. He said the party’s key policies to make homes more affordable include changing the way homes are purchased and introducing a tax on vacant homes and a tax on owners of multiple homes.
“A whole generation of young people are giving up hope of ever owning a home,” Schreiner said in a press release.
the average cost of a home in the GTA last year was almost $1.1 million, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s latest report. The report said that represents a 17.8 per cent increase from 2020.
Currently, homebuyers can purchase homes through a blind-bidding system where only the seller knows the value of each offer. Schreiner said that purchasing process can lead to home prices skyrocketing in bidding wars, and that if elected the Greens would reform the buying process to end blind-bidding.
Schreiner also said Greens would ensure homebuyers could purchase warranties on new homes from multiple providers.
The only home warranty provider in Ontario currently is private corporation Tarion, created in 1976 by the provincial government.
Schreiner also said his party would mandate home inspections at the expense of the property’s seller. The mandatory inspections would save first-time buyers the cost of repairs and maintenance on a new home, according to Schreiner.
Ontario passed regulations and established qualifications for home inspectors in April 2017.
Schreiner said that if elected his party would ensure families looking for homes would be able to enter the housing market.
“The current home-buying market in Ontario favors wealthy spectators and corporations with excess capital over families that are looking for a place to call home,” Schreiner said in the release.
“We have a plan to change that and level the playing field.”
The Ontario election will be held June 2.
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