Trudeau’s housing affordability plan makes pitch to ban blind bidding, foreign buyers – National | Globalnews.ca

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says a re-elected Liberal government would help renters become homeowners through $1 billion in loans and grants, while also banning blind bidding and putting a two-year moratorium on foreign buyers.

During an election campaign stop in Hamilton, Ont., Trudeau says the plan would help develop rent-to-own projects with an array of partners, creating a pathway to home ownership for renters in five years or less.

It would also create a “Homebuyers’ Bill of Rights” that would establish a legal right to a home inspection, something some have resorted to waiving amid frantic bidding wars and fevered races to snatch up homes in an increasingly cutthroat Canadian real estate market.

READ MORE: How to tame the housing wars — why open bidding may not work

The Liberals say their plan would help young Canadians afford a down payment faster by introducing a tax-free First Home Savings Account.

It would allow Canadians under 40 to save up to $40,000 toward their first home, and withdraw it tax-free to put toward their purchase, with no requirement to repay it.

The plan also includes a Housing Accelerator Fund, which would make $4 billion available to help large cities speed up their housing plans, with a target of 100,000 new middle-class homes by 2024-25.

Trudeau strained to be heard at times during the announcement as a chorus of hecklers shouted and booed.

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