The Yukon Party (YP) says its efforts have helped reduce housing costs and avoid delays in the home-building and real estate industries.

But the territorial government counters that an announcement it made last week was precipitated by points made by the City of Whitehorse.

In a recent statement, the official Opposition renewed its call for the Yukon government to reverse a change to the land title transfer policy.

“Changed without consultation, the policy now issues land titles for new homes after a City of Whitehorse occupancy permit is in place, instead of earlier in the construction process, when the home is clad to weather – meaning the structure can withstand the elements,” the YP had pointed out.

“This change has increased uncertainty, costs, delays, and red tape for the housing construction industry.”

Energy, Mines and Resources critic Scott Kent raised the issue several times in the Yukon Legislative Assembly during the spring.

Following those questions, Whitehorse city council passed a motion in April. It called for the city’s Housing and Land Development Advisory Committee (HLDAC) to review the policy change.

Part of that motion, which was tabled by Coun. Dan Boyd, read: “This requirement may create unnecessary delays in the transfer of homes from builder to buyer, and increased costs to homeownership.”

The Yukon Real Estate Association (YREA) and the Yukon Contractors Association (YCA) wrote letters of support for Boyd’s motion.

The YREA said, “We feel this policy, and other recent policies introduced by the Yukon government, are contributing to increased costs and delays to new home construction in Whitehorse.”

The YCA said, “…we are worried that this policy will actually add red tape and negatively impact the housing market.”

“A recommendation from the City of Whitehorse’s HLDAC has confirmed the concerns raised by the Yukon Party and recommended that the Yukon government revert to issuing land titles at the clad to weather stage of construction,” the YP said.

City council voted June 5 to send the recommendation to the government urging it to change back the policy.

“We have been hearing that this policy change brought in by the Liberal government could cause delays in the transfer of title process which could increase costs, create delays, and cause uncertainty for the home-building industry,” said Kent.

“Despite the official Opposition raising this issue repeatedly in the legislature, and several letters of support from industry groups, the Liberals have refused to reverse their flawed policy.

“Hopefully now that the City of Whitehorse Housing and Land Development Advisor Committee has weighed in and called for the policy to be amended, the Liberals will finally listen.”

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister John Streicker said in a statement to the Star last Wednesday, “Our government is committed to ensuring that new homes are built on time and are also safe.

“Earlier this year, I directed the department to have conversations with the building community, with the City of Whitehorse, and with homeowners.

“Previously, the Government of Yukon modified the building requirement for home construction from ‘clad to weather’ to a later stage in the building process, which we call ‘conditional occupancy,’” Streicker said.

“‘Clad to weather’ is a non-standardized, non-permitted stage while the ‘conditional occupancy’ stage is standardized and permitted. This modification ensured that residences would be constructed according to safety and building standard measures.”

The City of Whitehorse, Streicker noted, “recently recommended that we amend our previous modification and use an earlier phase of the inspection process, the electrical rough-in and the third plumbing inspection, as the new approval stage.

“Our government is considering the recommendation and we intend to follow the recommendation,” the minister added.

“I thank (HLDAC) for the feedback and their work. We are committed to increasing housing for Yukoners.

“We are continuing to work with the City of Whitehorse to ensure building safety standards are met for homeowners in the most efficient way possible,” Steicker said.

Last Friday, the YP thanked the YCA and the YREA for first identifying the land title transfer policy modification.

“That change was increasing costs and delaying sales of newly built homes, and our efforts successfully pressured the minister of Energy, Mines and Resources to reverse his policy decision,” the YP said.

“The minister announced in the media on July 6 that the government was indeed backtracking on the policy.”

Kent – who had written letters to Streicker about the issue last winter – added, “We are pleased to have supported the home building industry’s efforts to prevent increased costs and delays in the sector.

“We have been pressing the Liberals to ease some of the red tape when it comes to home building and lot development to get more houses on the market.

“We are happy to do our part to help address the housing crisis in the Yukon by suggesting this and other changes to the government,” Kent added.

“The Yukon Party looks forward to hearing further details from the minister about the process and timing of the policy reversal.”