For those buying a new or re-sale home, the Homeowner Protection Office offers consumer protection information to assist British Columbia homebuyers in making more informed purchasing decisions.
New Homes Registry
This online public registry provides prospective home buyers with information that will help them make more informed decisions when buying a new home.
You can access the New Homes Registry at your convenience. It’s a useful resource for homebuyers, realtors, lawyers, local governments, and others interested in quickly checking the status of a new home or a new home under construction.
Use it to help you find out if a new home or new home under construction has a policy of home warranty insurance and is built by a Licensed Residential Builder. You can search for single detached homes and multi-unit (including duplex) buildings.
If the home you are looking for does not have home warranty insurance it may have been built under an Owner Builder Authorization, or it may be exempt because it is a rental building. This information is also available on the Registry.
The New Homes Registry can be searched using the civic address or legal description. Only homes registered with the HPO since November 19, 2007 are searchable on this registry. If you cannot find the home you are looking for or if you are seeking information on a home registered after July 1999 and before November 19, 2007, please call the HPO toll-free at 1-800-407-7757 and select option 3 (for homeowner calls) for assistance. We will help you find the information that you are seeing on a particular property.
See animated New Homes Registry demonstration - English, Punjabi or Cantonese version
Resources Available
The Homeowner Protection Office has a variety of information to assist homebuyers in their purchasing decision.
- Public Registry of Licensed Residential Builders and Building Envelope Renovators
- Buying a Home in British Columbia: A Consumer Protection Guide provides practical information to help consumers in B.C. make informed decisions about their home purchases.
- Guide to Home Warranty Insurance in British Columbia provides prospective new home buyers and owners of new homes with information on home warranty insurance in B.C.
- B.C.’s superintendent of real estate issued a bulletin in August 2007 about the risks associated with purchasing pre-sale residential units.
- 2-5-10 Year Home Warranty Insurance bulletin
- Consumer Protection for Buyers of New Homes bulletin
- If you’re planning on hiring a contractor to do construction, renovation or repair work on your home, the Get it in Writing website provides information that will help you.
- Information Bulletin for Owner-builders
- Highlights Homeowner Protection Act Regulations for Licensing and Mandatory Third-Party Home Warranty Insurance for Building Envelope Renovations in British Columbia
- List of Home Warranty Insurance Providers
- Homeowner Protection Act (Act)
- Homeowner Protection Act regulations for new home construction
- Homeowner Protection Act regulations for building envelope renovations
- Other publications
Events
The HPO participates in a variety of events which provide consumer information for homebuyers.
