Vancouver mulling new tax for empty homes

Almost a quarter of the condos in Vancouver's Coal Harbour neighbourhood are either vacant or occupied by non-residents, according to a UBC planning professor. March 21, 2013. (CTV/Chopper 9)

The City of Vancouver has revealed it’s mulling a tax on vacant homes that it hopes could discourage owners from leaving investment properties empty.

Coun. Raymond Louie said details of the tax are still being worked out, but the intention would be to pressure speculators to open up their homes to renters.

“We are concerned about these places being used for speculation, to make money rather than to house people,” Louie said.

Any potential vacancy tax would have to be approved by the B.C. government, he added, and the province hasn’t been keen on similar initiatives.

A city study, which was conducted over 12 years and released last March, found there were about 10,800 empty units in Vancouver in 2014, a vacancy rate comparable with other big cities.

Most of those were condos, and about 1,000 were houses.

Economists from two Metro Vancouver universities still believe collecting a tax on vacant homes could increase the number of rental units in the city, as well as generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually.

The economists said the tax wouldn’t apply to certain groups, such as longtime residents or seniors who go away for much of the year.

Vancouver resident Katie White said empty homes in her Point Grey neighbourhood sometimes make it feel like a ghost town.

“Just walking around you see that no one’s out and about,” White said. “Beautiful family neighbourhood and there are so few families that live here.”

Earlier this week, B.C. Premier Christy Clark told a Liberal fundraiser to expect news on the affordability issue in the coming weeks.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Nafeesa Karim