VANCOUVER Mayor Kennedy Stewart on Wednesday announced further details of his plan to fill remaining empty homes with renters or get them back into the hands of local owners who will live in them.

“I find it unacceptable that speculators make large profits by sitting on empty homes while renters struggle to find places to live,” said Stewart. “My move to triple the empty homes tax in 2020 reduced the number of vacant homes in Vancouver. But we still must do more to stop speculators from taking advantage of our city and shift the remaining empty homes back to hard working Vancouver residents.”

The mayor’s motion proposes raising the 2023 empty homes tax from three to five percent, directs staff to approximately double the number of audits from 9,000 to 20,000 in 2023, and explores how exemptions might be altered to improve fairness so that those with legitimate reasons for having vacant homes are not penalized.

“People are allowed to own more than one home in Vancouver, but homes that aren’t a primary residence must be rented out. They cannot sit empty. I’ve heard from thousands of hard-working Vancouver residents who are tired of lining up to compete against each other to rent or buy, while speculators sit back and profit,” said Stewart. “Strengthening the Empty Homes Tax to five percent, while doubling the number of audits represents a final push to stop this practice which harms our whole community.”

Stewart’s motion will be debated during the next set of Council meetings on April 26 and 27. The motion can be downloaded here.