City mulling tax on vacant homes

The City of Ottawa will look into implementing a tax on homes that are left vacant when they could be housing people, a step Vancouver has taken andToronto is on the verge of taking.

City council asked staff this week to study whethersuch a taxwould work in Ottawa, and report back in thespring about asking the provincial government for that power.

• Empty homes tax has put more rental properties on the market, Vancouver mayor says

The Hintonburg Community Associationhas been tracking thegrowing number of houses whose doors and windows remain boarded shut, in some cases years after their tenants were evicted.

The association's treasurer Cheryl Parrotthas been talking to the city for more than a decadeabout the safetyissues associated with the vacant buildings, but her main concern now is that they're sitting empty during ahousing emergency.

Parrott said several of Hintonburg's boarded-up homes are near Tom Brown Arena, which is currently acting as a respite centrefor peopleat risk during the pandemic. Not far from the arena, people left homeless by a rooming house fire last year lived intentsuntil their encampment was dismantled.

"It's just so morally wrong that we have these boarded buildings that were perfectly good. They were good, affordable buildings, and people were evicted from those buildings," said Parrott. "Now we have people sleeping two blocks away in makeshift shelters."

She understands the buildings might someday be redeveloped, but would like to see them occupied in the meantime.

Last month, Ottawa's chief bylaw officer told councillorsthe cityhas 217 addresses on its list of vacant properties.

Raisingtaxes isn't the goal

Vancouver credits revenue generated by atax it implemented in 2018 for putting more units back on the rental market. That city's "empty homes tax" charges1.25 per cent of theassessed value of a property that is neithera principal residence nor rented out for at least six months of the year. That's on top of the property tax the owner already pays.

Toronto mayor John Torypointed to Vancouver's success when hevoiced "strong support" Thursday for his city's own plan toimplement a vacant home tax in 2022.

• New city report recommends vacant home tax in Toronto

Here in Ottawa,Mayor Jim Watson said his "timely" motionapproved this week could spur property owners into "getting their act together and not allowing these buildings to deteriorate to a point where they become a hazard in the community."

The idea isn'tto taxsnowbirds who leave their homes empty for the winter, nor sellers whose homes sit on the real estate market for months, Watson said, adding any potential revenue would go toward affordable housing.

"I actually hope we don't bring in a lot of money from a vacant property tax," Coun.Jeff Leiper, whose ward includes Hintonburg,saidWednesday. "The goal of a vacant property taxhas to be that properties are not vacant and that they're housing people."