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Renters and would-be homebuyers looking for relief won’t find any in Tuesday’s budget, which contained no new measures or changes to current housing policy beyond the government’s existing 10-year housing plan.

Finance Minister Carole James took the opportunity to laud the progress of the province’s Homes for B.C. plan, which she said was spending $1 billion a year on building new affordable homes across the province.

The plan, announced in 2017, aims to have 114,000 such homes built over 10 years. More than 23,000 are complete or already underway, she said.

The budget includes money for a public inquiry on money laundering.

“By cracking down on money laundering, stopping fraud, targeting speculators, closing loopholes, and making renting more secure, government is working to make housing more affordable,” James said.

Despite rental prices increasing beyond wage growth and inflation, and home prices creeping up again, there were no additional measures to help renters or would-be homebuyers.

But there was new funding for the supportive housing sector.

According to budget documents, new investments will open 200 new supportive homes for people in need. Two new 60-bed navigation centres — shelters with enhanced services — will open for people with complex challenges.

The budget came on the same day that the federal government made a tweak to the federal mortgage stress test, which has been widely cited as a key reason for the recent price shift in many housing markets.

The qualifying rate for insured mortgages — those with less than 20 per cent down payment — will now be calculated at the weekly median five-year fixed rate from mortgage insurance applications, plus two per cent. This replaces the previous calculation, which was the Bank of Canada’s average posted interest rate, or the mortgage applicant’s contracted rate plus two per cent, whichever was the higher.

The new measure, which goes into effect April 6, is set to ease the qualifying rate from some lenders to 4.79 per cent from 5.19 per cent.