Builders say HST removal is step one in many needed to tackle housing crisis

Rental housing builders are warning they may need still more financial incentives from government to help tackle the housing crisis even as provinces are joining Ottawa to remove sales taxes from new-build rental projects.

“There are other headwinds,” warned Adrian Rocca, chief executive officer of Fitzrovia Real Estate. “It’s not unlocking immediately a lot of the supply.” Mr. Rocca’s company has four recently completed rental buildings and five in progress or in planning. He said, in the face of rising construction costs and more expensive rates from lenders, the sales tax waivers at best bring things back to the neutral point of two years ago, when the country still was building enough rental. “It was a big first step, no bones about it,” he said.