JANUARY 2015 BCBusiness 23 bcbUSiNESS.cA
A Tax on
All Their
Houses
Looking for global solutions
to Vancouver's empty-
condo crisis
by Alix Drabek
r e a L e s t a t e
I
n last November's civic elections,
one of the most popular campaign
pledges came from Vancouver may-
oral candidate Meena Wong, who
pledged to "place a duty" on vacant
properties in the city. The promise
sparked immediate interest in a city
where local real estate is increasingly in
the hands of foreign buyers, and shone
a spotlight on what other jurisdictions
around the world are doing to prevent
their housing stock from sitting empty.
In the past two years, Israel, the
United Kingdom and Luxembourg
have each enacted vacant property
laws with one common goal: to allevi-
ate an acute housing shortage for local
citizens. Few jurisdictions impose a
tax specifically on vacant property.
Far more common is a carrot-and-stick
approach that rewards owner-occu-
pants with tax benefits while imposing
additional costs on foreign and non-
resident transactions.
•
name of
Tax
Year
Tax
Who paYs
WhaT iT
amounTs
To
New York CitY
Pied à Terre Tax
(proposed)
January 2015
U.k.
Empty Homes
Premium
2013
LUxemboUrg
Empty House
Tax
2014
israeL
Double Arnona
(property tax)
2014
siNgapore
Additional
Buyer's Stamp
Duty
2013
HoNg koNg
Buyers Stamp
Duty
2012
aUstraLia
Not for Sale
2010
0.5% to 4% of
market value
of properties
worth more than
US$5 million
Owners of
non-primary
residential
properties
For a two-
bedroom condo
(valued at
C$6,700,000)
in Chelsea:
C$5,600
For a three-
bedroom home
in the London
Borough of
Camden (valued
at C$7,270,000):
C$5,954
For an
unoccupied
four-bedroom,
three-level
home (valued
at C$700,000):
C$10,871
For an unoc-
cupied one-
bedroom apt in
central Jeru-
salem (valued
at C$891,000):
C$3,752
For a 500-sq.-
ft. apt (valued
at C$737,900):
C$117,000
Non-residents
must apply to
the Foreign
Investment
Review Board to
buy residential
property
For a one-bed-
room apt (valued
at C$2,771,690):
C$416,202
Owners of prop-
erty unoccupied
for more than 2
years
Owners of
non-primary
residential
property
Owners of non-
primary residen-
tial properties
that sit empty 9+
months per year
Foreign buyers
of residential
property
Non-residents
cannot buy
resold homes,
only new ones
with approval
Non-residents
150% of prop-
erty tax bill
200% of prop-
erty tax bill
15% of purchase
price
N/A 15% of purchase
price
Starts at C$210
per metre of a
home's width
times its floors.
Goes up yearly
non-resident
occupied units
Coal Harbour 22.8%
(highest rate in the city)
Downtown Vancouver 14.9%
City of Vancouver 7.7%
Metro Vancouver 6.1%
SOURcE: btAworks Foreign investment in Vancouver Real Estate, SFU Woodwards Presentation, March 20, 2013
