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York Region moves forward with vacant homes tax plan

Tax designed to discourage speculators and tackle affordable housing crisis

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 12, 2022
Kim Zarzour

It will be up to York Regional council to decide whether all or just some local municipalities will impose a vacant home tax on empty properties should a new plan be approved early next year.

The region’s committee of the whole voted Sept. 8 to ask staff to come up with detailed plans and draft bylaw designed to discourage property owners from leaving their homes vacant.

It’s in response to a declared “housing affordability crisis” in a region where the benchmark house price reached $1,307,857 in June and more than a quarter of all renters spend more than half their income on housing.

The vacant homes tax could raise between $13.4 million and $26.8 million in its first year to help address housing affordability challenges, according to a report presented at the Thursday morning committee meeting.

The final bylaw presented to council would clarify what classifies as “vacant.”

Vancouver and Toronto, for example, require homeowners fill out a mandatory declaration and deem home vacant if it is empty for more than six months, said Laura Mirabella, the region’s commissioner of finance.

In those cities that have implemented the tax, there are some exemptions -- homes under construction, for example, or where a homeowner has left to undergo medical care, she said.

While 88 per cent of those surveyed by the region this summer support the idea, one member of council voiced opposition.

Richmond Hill Regional Councillor Carmine Perrelli warned the tax is a “slippery slope.”

“If we’re going to tax homes because we want stock for people to live in, where do we stop? ... Do we now say if someone has a basement apartment that’s available, must they rent that out? ...[If I’m] an empty nester and three extra bedrooms, maybe I’m required to pay extra tax if I don’t rent those rooms out so that people can have affordable place to live?

“We should allow people to run their investments the way they see fit," he added.

But Markham Regional Councillor Jack Heath said he supported the sentiments voiced by many residents quoted in the report, saying the large number of vacant homes in the region is “sad.”

“I know in certain parts of Markham, and I'm sure Vaughan and Richmond Hill and elsewhere, there are communities with ... cul de sacs with four houses out of six that are vacant.

“Those people who would oppose the tax, all they're thinking about is their personal investment in real estate.”

Heath recommended the report be forwarded to local municipalities for their information.

However, Markham Regional Councillor Don Hamilton raised the concern that not all local municipalities will want to participate.

“It can be very divisive and inconsistent,” he said, adding he supports the tax. “Is there any ability for the region to enact overarching powers?”

Mirabella added it will explore how many local area municipalities are interested.

“In fact, even if a local municipality were to opt out, other local municipalities could continue on with the region," she said.

The final decision on which local municipality will impose the tax rests with the region, Mirabella said.