EMPTY-HOMES TAX PUTS $21M INTO CITY COFFERS – SO FAR

The City of Vancouver says it has collected $21 million in the first full year of its empty homes tax and another $17 million could still flow into its coffers. The city says it expects to generate about $38 million from the first year of the tax, which is applied to vacant residential properties in a bid to ease Vancouver’s low vacancy rate. The city says there just over 186,000 residential proper- ties declared and 2,538 of those were vacant. Properties deemed empty are subject to a tax of one per cent of the property’s 2018 assessed taxable value. City staff will continue to monitor the impact of the tax on housing supply and affordability, and the release says revenue generated by the tax will be used for affordable housing initiatives in Vancouver.