Vancouver's tripled empty homes tax brings in $32M, leads to decline in vacant property: mayor

Construction cranes tower above condos under construction near southeast False Creek in Vancouver on Feb. 9, 2020. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS_

Vancouver's mayor says his decision to triple the city's tax on homeowners who leave their property sitting empty did translate to a decline in vacancies last year.

Kennedy Stewart said preliminary data showed fewer vacant properties in the city, meaning more of those homes are being rented out to residents.

A factor in the city's previous vacancy rate of near zero, which contributed to the highest rental rates in the country, was that many property owners were leaving their homes empty much of the year.

The goal of the so-called empty homes tax was to encourage those owners to rent out their empty spaces, or pay more if they chose not to.

And according to Stewart, who posted about it on Twitter Monday, the tax which was tripled to three per cent last year brought in $32 million for the city.

The money, he said, will go toward building affordable housing and initiatives to reduce homelessness in Vancouver.