http://www.theprovin...1034/story.html
B.C. supports Vancouver's proposal for a housing vacancy tax
Posted 11 July 2016 - 12:06 PM
Posted 11 July 2016 - 04:40 PM
Searching the ol' internet, I don't see any other places in North America with this kind of a tax. Some talk in Australia.
You know, there is all kinds of land where you could put up 10,000 or 50,000 homes around the Lower Mainland, let's just allow development!
Posted 11 July 2016 - 04:44 PM
Don't see how you would monitor it in any event.
Posted 11 July 2016 - 04:54 PM
Don't see how you would monitor it in any event.
It also seems regressive.
Now you'll have less people buying.
If we just opened up another 50,000 building lots, that would be fantastic for the economy.
But also, is this tax even going to work? These homes could be rented for $2,000 to $3,000 per month. The owner is willing to forego that income, so slapping $500/mo. tax on it, will that make much of a difference?
Oh, Gawd, now I'm hearing Lisa Helps saying that tax should come here.
It's funny nobody on the left is stepping up to say this is racist. A "head tax" on wealthy Chinese buyers.
Posted 11 July 2016 - 05:38 PM
Posted 11 July 2016 - 05:57 PM
http://vancouverisla...s-say-1.2982964
Empty home tax shouldn’t just be for Vancouver, mayors say
Victoria is in what Mayor Lisa Helps has referred to as a rental “crisis” with a vacancy rate hovering around the 0.6 per cent mark.
“The housing crisis is a crisis across urban British Columbia,” she said. “Victoria is the third-hardest place to buy or rent in Canada.”
Helps said she wants the Community Charter, which represents all other B.C. municipalities, to be amended at the same time.
There are more than 30 derelict homes in Victoria that could be on the rental market if the charter was amended, Helps said.
30 homes eh?
Out of the 30,000+ dwelling units in the City of Victoria?
Lisa Helps is absurd sometimes often.
Just LISTED by people today, there are 103 Greater Victoria rentals listed on Craigslist. And a total of 625 "active" listings (yes, many are old listings and are rented).
But come on Mayor Helps....
Approve Northern Junk and you have a few HUNDRED new units coming online.
Posted 11 July 2016 - 07:00 PM
Not only is it only 30 homes it is 30 derelict homes. So who is going to pay then to renovate the buildings so that they can be used for rentals?
Posted 11 July 2016 - 07:07 PM
Never met a tax that a left wing politician doesnt like.... That being said, has comrade Gregor indicated what the money collected would be used for? It would make sense perhaps to use it to purchase land to put up some non-profit housing, but I suspect he'll find bike lanes are more important.
http://business.fina...apsed-overnight
Unfortunately, everyone gets caught in that type of fiasco.
Posted 11 July 2016 - 07:10 PM
Never met a tax that a left wing politician doesnt like....
Ya, kind of my thoughts too. What, we can tax 30 derelict homes and maybe get an extra $100,000 from them?!?! Let's do it!
Posted 11 July 2016 - 07:12 PM
That being said, has comrade Gregor indicated what the money collected would be used for?
Ya, it'd be for "affordable housing initiatives".
For crikies sake, affordable housing is easy if you just adjust your zoning and regulations.
Posted 11 July 2016 - 07:29 PM
Edited by victoriassecret, 11 July 2016 - 07:29 PM.
Posted 11 July 2016 - 09:00 PM
Now you'll have to prove you live in your home.
You'll simply have to show someone lived in your home. I suspected it'll be easy to defeat tickets in court.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 05:13 AM
Ya, kind of my thoughts too. What, we can tax 30 derelict homes and maybe get an extra $100,000 from them?!?! Let's do it!
Gregor quoted this morning as saying that some owners are so rich that the tax won't incent them to rent out their homes. So then it is really nothing more than a tax grab.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 07:21 AM
Not everyone wants to rent out the family home to strangers. I left my condo empty for one year, while I needed to be somewhere else for work for a year. Needing to work somewhere else is not that unusual in Victoria, this being an island and all. Why should I be punished for leaving my home empty so that I could come back to it when the year was over?
Posted 12 July 2016 - 07:27 AM
Not everyone wants to rent out the family home to strangers. I left my condo empty for one year, while I needed to be somewhere else for work for a year. Needing to work somewhere else is not that unusual in Victoria, this being an island and all. Why should I be punished for leaving my home empty so that I could come back to it when the year was over?
Oh, don't consider your tax as a "punishment", consider it as an "investment", in someone else's "affordable" home.
It's a big shell game.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 08:20 AM
There is going to be no practical way of enforcing this. More smoke and mirrors to make it look like the Government is trying to do something.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 08:38 AM
There is going to be no practical way of enforcing this. More smoke and mirrors to make it look like the Government is trying to do something.
I guess they could do a reverse-onus after someone reports a home. I report your home, bylaw guy comes out twice, if he finds nobody at home, he sticks a ticket in your mailbox. Two years later, if unpaid it becomes a lien on the home (added to property tax). If you want, you can provide documentation to prove you're not in violation. We (city officials) will either accept your evidence, or not, then you have to go to court.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 05:34 PM
So if I have a secondary suite going unused, or at least not used by a tenant, will I be taxed?
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 05:51 PM
So if I have a secondary suite going unused, or at least not used by a tenant, will I be taxed?
No, I think the entirety of the home must be unoccupied to get the fine/tax. It'll be extremely interesting how/if they make this apply to condos.
If they say that the place has to go 180 days unoccupied to get the fine/tax, watch for lots of businesses opening that offer to "occupy" your place for one day every six months.
Posted 12 July 2016 - 07:18 PM
No, I think the entirety of the home must be unoccupied to get the fine/tax. It'll be extremely interesting how/if they make this apply to condos.
If they say that the place has to go 180 days unoccupied to get the fine/tax, watch for lots of businesses opening that offer to "occupy" your place for one day every six months.
Or even better buy an Amazon echo and place it is your condo. Every week or two just have it start to flick a few lights, play your stereo and turn on your TV!
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