Owners of empty or under-utilized homes have less than a month to rent their properties — assuming they haven’t already — or risk paying the city’s empty home tax.
Under the city’s new regulation, owners are required to rent out their non-principal properties for at least six months of the year or face paying the tax. The six months don’t have to be consecutive, but must be in periods of 30 or more consecutive days. With July 1 approaching, that leaves little time for some owners to find tenants if they haven’t already done so.
The regulation was adopted because the city suspects there are thousands of empty or under-utilized homes at a time when many Vancouver residents are struggling to find an affordable home given the rental vacancy rate sits at near zero.
Those who don’t comply with the new rule will be subject to a tax of one per cent of the property’s assessed value.
“In a rental housing crisis, it’s unacceptable for so much housing to be treated as a commodity while people who live and work in Vancouver can’t find an affordable and secure place to live,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a press release. “Housing is for homes first, investments second. The Empty Homes Tax will help ensure the best use of all our housing, and boost long term rental supply by bringing thousands of homes back into the market.”
Earlier this year, David Hutniak, CEO of Landlord BC, told the Courier that the initiative is one step in addressing the housing crisis, while adding that it’s unclear what the final impact will be.
