My post says “purchase”, not confiscate. It should also be voluntary, not forced. They could provide fair value to the owners in exchange for the property, and utilize the newly purchased housing to help address homelessness by providing low-or-no cost homes to those in need.
Discussion
Why would a foreign investor, or a Canadian investor for that matter, want to sell their property to the Canadian government? What would that do to market prices? Who decides what is fair value?
Government policies are the reason for this mess. They are not the solution.
Profit I would assume. What else drives greedy investors who purchase properties en masse in a foreign country and then let them stay empty because no one will rent at their exorbitant prices? I have no idea what it would do to market prices, but the housing market is too high and apparently will crash regardless (or so many “experts” say). The person who decides if the value is fair is the seller, just like if I said “Hey Sikto, I’ll give you $10 for your house” you would have the right to say no because it’s a voluntary choice.
I simply made a suggestion off the cuff that /could/ help. I also never suggested there should be any policies in play that force people into anything. I only said the govt /could/ make offers on these investors properties to purchase and then they /could/ use them to help address the issue by converting them to subsidized housing or using other alternatives, such as free distribution (although that’s utopia and likely would never happen).
Perhaps not THE solution but something that could assist in finding one whilst helping people survive.