If handled correctly, British Columbia’s new Housing Supply Act can ease municipal roadblocks to adequate housing. In tandem with an increase in nonmarket housing, such legislation has the potential to help stave off the housing crisis.
Maintain a central registry of who owns what housing and who lives there (necessary for the policies below). This can be used to audit abuses
Raise property taxes on vacant housing
Introduce a new yearly anti-speculation tax that depends on the owner of the unit:
Canadian citizens: 0%.
Permanent residents and people with work permits: 0%.
Companies established in Canada:
Single-family dwelling: 5%.
Dwelling between two and 6 units: 2%
Housing with more units: 0%
All other assumptions: 10% <-- this includes foreign investors
Why all this bureaucracy? We can simply just shift property taxes to land value taxes. Much more equitable and it would disincentivize speculation and incentivize density. You only need to know who owns which parcel of land so its much less bureaucratic.
Land can either be a good investment, or it can be affordable; it can’t be both. A land value tax does nothing to prevent wealthy people to hoard vast amounts of land, driving the cost of land higher. Foreign investments in real estate are particularly damaging to affordability, because it makes ordinary Canadians compete against the wealthiest people around the world, a fight they can never win.
You are right, land should not be a good investment. A land value tax supports this as it decreases the value of the land, it won’t be seen as an investment. Wealthy people and investors hoarding land will only increase their tax burden and thus will not be profitable for them.
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Why all this bureaucracy? We can simply just shift property taxes to land value taxes. Much more equitable and it would disincentivize speculation and incentivize density. You only need to know who owns which parcel of land so its much less bureaucratic.
Land can either be a good investment, or it can be affordable; it can’t be both. A land value tax does nothing to prevent wealthy people to hoard vast amounts of land, driving the cost of land higher. Foreign investments in real estate are particularly damaging to affordability, because it makes ordinary Canadians compete against the wealthiest people around the world, a fight they can never win.
You are right, land should not be a good investment. A land value tax supports this as it decreases the value of the land, it won’t be seen as an investment. Wealthy people and investors hoarding land will only increase their tax burden and thus will not be profitable for them.