Vancouver To Get Powers To Tax Empty Homes, Says Province

British Columbia's finance minister Mike De Jong announced yesterday morning that the B.C government will provide the city of Vancouver, the authority it requires to implement an empty home tax.

He stated that the provincial government is only responsible for giving the "statutory powers" needed within the Vancouver Charter to allow for the tax. The City of Vancouver will be responsible for determining the tax rate and how to measure whether a home is vacant or not.

Mike De Jong mentioned that the challenge that people in British Columbia face around housing, the challenge associated with people coming to the province and the strong economy will not be solved overnight or will not be solved in any one single manner. He said it will require governments to work together.

The announcement comes after Vancouver's mayor Gregor Robertson first proposed the vacant homes tax on June 22nd. Mayor Gregor Robertson indicated that the city was ready to move forward on the tax with or without the province's assistance.

Mayor Gregor Robertson says right now it is too early to find out how much the tax would be. He also mentioned that the tax should only apply to homes left empty 12 months of the year.

According to a report released in March by the city, a total of 10,800 homes in Vancouver were empty. 9,750 of those homes were condo units.

According to Mayor Gregor Robertson, Vancouver is not the only place with empty homes. He says the whole region is dealing with a vacancy problem. He hopes that changes to the community charter in the near future will allow other communities around the province to have an empty home tax, particularly in Metro Vancouver.

References:

CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/…/british-c…/de-jong-real-estate-1.3673844

Metro News Canada

http://www.metronews.ca/…/bc-finance-minister-supports-vanc…