As the rental housing crisis persists, Vancouver will have an Empty Homes Tax in place by effective January 1, 2017. The City of Vancouver will report on the Tax’s next steps to Council next week.
Targeting the known 10,800 year-round empty and roughly 10,000 more under-occupied homes in Vancouver, the City of Vancouver is recommending that all non-principal residences (except those qualifying for an exemption) which are unoccupied for six full months of the year or more will be subject to a 1% Empty Homes Tax. Vacant residential land will also be subject to the Tax.
“Vancouver is in a rental housing crisis. The City won’t sit on the sidelines while over 20,000 empty and under-occupied properties hold back homes for renters struggling to find an affordable and secure place to live,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson.
“In a rental housing crisis, it’s unacceptable for so much housing to be treated as a commodity when people are desperate for an affordable, secure place to live. Housing is for homes first, and as investments second.”
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Last modified: December 31, 2016
