Whereas the Province of British Columbia responded to a housing affordability crisis in 2016 with legislation empowering the City of Vancouver to introduce a surtax on vacant residential properties, resulting in 38-million in revenues for that community in 2018 and creating a strong disincentive to leaving properties vacant; And whereas communities across British Columbia face housing affordability pressures, while a portion of the housing supply in all communities remains vacant, including properties that have remained derelict for years or decades, and vacant and derelict buildings pose substantial risks in terms of public safety in communities, as well as liveability and desirability for nearby and adjoining neighbourhoods and properties: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia extend the authority to introduce a surtax on vacant residential properties to local governments across British Columbia, providing communities with the discretion to decide whether to introduce an additional tax to discourage vacant and derelict buildings, and encourage the occupancy, maintenance, and improvement of buildings to address housing affordability and public safety.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Affordable and available housing is of paramount concern to the Province. To address this concern, the province is taking a number of tangible steps, including: working with the federal government to develop a new National Housing Strategy and implementing a 10 year housing plan to help people find a home. One part of the plan is a speculation tax that targets, among other things, vacant homes. Currently, this tax focuses on large urban centres, which face the most serious housing problems, and addresses the issue of property owners who do not pay taxes in BC but take housing stock out of the market. As affordable housing is a systemic provincial issue, the speculation tax is best administered at the provincial level. Also, the Province has the most appropriate audit and compliance tools for administering the tax. Revenue from this tax will help to fund important housing affordability initiatives in BC. Designing an authority for a vacancy tax for local governments would require amendments to the Community Charter. There are varied interests for this measure among local governments across BC, indicating a need for further discussion before considering legislation beyond what was granted to the City of Vancouver in 2016. While enabling legislation does not need to be used by every community, it would have to be usable and under the Community Charter, that means useable across a range of communities throughout the province. The Province will continue to monitor the effectiveness of Vancouvers tax and listen to the views of local governments across BC on this matter. Any such work would need to consider the more recent addition of the provincial speculation tax in some areas, as both taxes are intended to have the same functional effect of increasing vacancy rates by encouraging property owners to rent their vacant properties. There would need to be greater understanding of the effect of having two taxes with the same purpose in these regions of the province. Regarding a surtax on derelict properties, municipalities already have the authority to regulate, prohibit, and impose requirements on unsightly premises. Included in this authority is the ability to establish a fine for violation of municipal bylaws and impose fees for municipal works done on the property. Therefore, the Province will not be able to explore a tax on derelict properties at this time.