It would also offer municipalities financial incentives to get new housing projects approved.
“Governments are quick to impose timelines on citizens and hold them to account, but they never like to be constrained themselves,” de Jong said in a press release October 27.
“About 120,000 homes are waiting for approval so construction companies can get shovels in the ground,” de Jong said.
De Jong said the typical approval time for new home construction is 10 months. He said the city of Vancouver had the worst record. He said it takes an average of 21 months to get new home consfruction approved from the city of Vancouver.
De Jong is one of eight Liberals vying to be leader of the B.C. Liberal Party. Under his leadership, de Jong said a Liberal government would legislate timelines for cities to make permitting decisions.
The legislation would require housing developments of 50 units or less to get a yes or no answer from municipal governments within 10 months.
