My neighbour is thinking of selling his home, a realtor told him today some banks are not keen on lending money on houses that do not have basements. They said nothing about this when he bought it, so he's panicing that something has changed recently and now his house won't sell. Is this cobblers or is there some valid reason for this?

Cobblers. Unless the house is in a frequently deluged flood plain, has quicksand like subsidence and is likely to be the target of a land grab.

Cheers! Will give him the good news

Another vote for cobblers.

Some folk want a house with a basement. Fair enough: but the lender doesn't give a monkey's either way.

Lack of a Basement is not a problem for the Banks, their only concern is that the home is worth more than the loan.

If true this will be a huge surprise to thousands of home owners and potential home owners on Vancouver Island.

Huge number of homes there are built on slab or have a two foot crawl space but no basement.

Cheers
Steve

OK I may be totally wrong here - but don't canadain houses have basements to take their foundations down to below permafrost/permafrost effects?

Not all of them. It is true that the main function of a basement is as a foundation. There are other methods of construction available. The townhouse I had in Oakville was entirely above-ground. On it, anyway.

We don't have permafrost in southern Canada.

Atlas of Canada - Permafrost map.

We do get frost and yes some of the foundations are built so the footings are below the frost level.

But in southern B.C. and most places on Vancouver Island, also most likely other locations in Canada either the ground doesn't freeze and/or the underlying bedrock is so close to the surface that it is impossible to dig a basement without using dynamite.