Photo: Contributed

Les Bellamy, left, with past president Justin O'Connor

Kelowna’s Les Bellamy could not have picked a more action-packed time to slip into the president’s chair of the Canadian Home Builders Association-Central Okanagan chapter.

The speculation tax is almost here, there is a housing affordability issue in the region, and the government red tape required to build a home keeps getting thicker.

“I will not be bored,” Bellamy said Wednesday.

The Bellamy Homes owner became president last Friday during the CHBA-CO’s annual general meeting after spending two years as its vice-president. His two-year term as the boss promises to be an eventful one.

The most pressing issue right off the hop for Bellamy is the speculation tax, which he says has already caused more than $400 million in cancelled contracts for his members in the Central Okanagan alone.

“It’s just the speculation of the speculation tax,” Bellamy said. “And this is throughout the Central Okanagan, so it’s not just in the Kelowna and West Kelowna area. We’re getting reports from builders in Vernon, builders in Lake Country, of the impact.

“Consumers are scared. They’re not sure what’s going to happen.”

For more on this story, visit Okanagan Edge.