Homeowner grant threshold will go up to $1.6 million

JON MEYER (CKNW NEWS) The B.C. Government is addressing soaring property assessments.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong confirms to CHNL news Kamloops the homeowner grant threshold will go up.

Global BC’s chief political reporter Keith Baldrey is reporting the threshold will go up to $1.6 million when announced Tuesday.

“It’s one of the biggest jumps, I think it is the biggest jump in terms of that threshold in some time. There was a big jump before the 2013 election, for a couple of years there, this one of course comes on the eve of the May election, with a significant increase of $400,000 in terms of assessed value.”
Baldrey says that should cover about 90-percent of people eligible for the grant last year.

READ MORE: Economist: Homeowner grant program needs adjusting

Assessments for those in several areas such as Metro Vancouver jumped by as much as 30-50  per cent.

The current home owner grant threshold is $1.2-million.

NDP welcomes the newsThe opposition NDP is cheering news the grant threshold will climb but is asking “what took so long?”

Housing critic David Eby says the province knew property assessments would spike this year and wait left vulnerable residents in the dark.

READ MORE: Critics say homeowner grant boost not enough

“There’re so many people who are at risk of having to give up homes that they bought that they could barely afford because people leverage themselves so far, they borrowed money for downpayments from friends and family or from private lenders. There’s a huge number of people that are living paycheck to paycheck and stretched themselves to get into the market, and any increase is unsustainable to them.”

Eby wouldn’t say what he thinks a fair threshold would be but says any change should account for big differences in regional valuations.