We are now 2nd class citizens

[MylesP]

To tax/penalize occupied second homes on the fiction that they are “empty” amounts to expropriation without compensation. Many owners will be forced to sell, likely to someone who will use it as their principal residence it so it won’t be available to rent at all. The former owners will then have to rent something in Vancouver in which to live when they are not occupying their other B.C. residence. There are a hundred valid reasons why people want and need to live several months of the year in Vancouver: occasional work, family and marital issues, elder or grandchildren care, medical care, use of all the facilities only found in Vancouver, to name just a few. These people will be forced to rent other places in Vancouver, putting greater pressure on the available rentals.
The province recognizes that MLAs, whose principal residences are scattered throughout B.C., need a secondary residence to live in while they are in Victoria, and provide them with a stipend to rent or buy one. These MLAs do not work “full time” in Victoria, just as many people who need to be in Vancouver for work part of the time do not work here “full time”.
Being forced to sell involves realtor fees, moving expenses, taxes and many other costs, all of which is apparantly to be borne by the owner with no compensation from the city. It is not as if the City is offering to buy the secondary residence at market value and compensate for the costs of moving.
The City has not factored in the costs of ownership in their public information bulletins. These cite a high potential rental income without mentioning or subtracting the equivalent costs of ownership, which are borne by the owner. Nor are the risks of non payment of rent, problem tenants, repair of damage and the work of being a landlord mentioned.
Seniors:
The needs and circumstances of seniors, between the ages of 65-90, have been missed. Many downsized and sold their Vancouver home, bought a principal residence in a less expensive area of B.C. and a small condo in Vancouver for their periodic and future use. The total value of these two is less than the value of a single home in Vancouver. It is prudent to plan for different needs as one gets older, becomes widowed, or requires more of the facilities of the City. Most seniors, especially single ones, live on pension income and lack the resources to pay an exorbitant tax/penalty.

[GordonH]

This only applies to City of Vancouver and not GVRD, .
Simple solution if your Vancouver residence is not your primary, then set it up as Airbnb.

[MylesP]

The city only allows Airbnd if it is your primary residence. Deciding to call your Kelowna residence secondary and changing your Vancouver residence to primary can have serious tax implications with Revenue Canada.
Also, many stratas will not allow short term Airbnd rentals.

There are cancer patients who must regularly be in Vancouver, medical specialists who manage part of their practice in Vancouver, business people who can only manage their businesses by being in Vancouver regularly, artists who live in remote places but perform in Vancouver, and many other necessary scenarios that the city listened to in their outreach. These people need a stable, central place where they can always rely on it being available, where they can control their own food and be able to do work or receive treatment while they are there. The city chose to ignore them because it said it would be too expensive to accommodate them.

[GordonH]

^^^if this is going place hardship on owners of 2 homes then:
Sell the city of Vancouver residents & buy in Burnaby, North Van or West Van. Then the residents is outside city of Vancouver boundary.

[MylesP]

If you do there will be realtor fees, property purchasing tax and moving expenses. No small amount.

[GordonH]

If you do there will be realtor fees, property purchasing tax and moving expenses. No small amount.

Then homeowners will have to do their homework, sell & move or stay put.

[Prestige Mike]

I'm not sure what the best solution is, but if this new regulation pushes people to rent their unoccupied homes than that is a good thing in my opinion. There are people that are treating the Vancouver real estate market as a commodity market. People are buying homes to just leave them empty and watch the value go up so they can sell in the future. I believe that is the true target of this regulation.

Last time I had to look for a place to rent in Vancouver there were 8 people at the open house. This was for a not very nice one bedroom apartment renting for $1375 per month. You could feel the desperation in everyone at that open house. There is no rental market like this in Canada. Something needs to be done.

[MylesP]

There is absolutely no doubt that something needs to be done! The city needs to change zoning to foster more multi family dwellings and improve transit to outlying areas. David Dodge, former Bank of Canada governor says "The bigger culprit may be local politicians’ reluctance to foster housing development" Many other economist say this, but it would take a Mayor with courage to promote this because its a tough sell to single family home owners. Look at other big cities - they do not have 85% of their land in single family homes and neither should Vancouver. The forecast is for the lower mainland population to grow by 30,000 a year. This requires drastic action. Very few condo owners want to be landlords so they will sell. This won't help the rental situation. This bylaw is just a smoke screen to help with reelection.

There is also an infringement on basic human property rights!

[36Drew]

it would take a Mayor with courage to promote this

The City of Vancouver has not at all been shy about high-density development. The entire area around false creek should be evidence of this. Maybe you haven't heard, but the city is planning on ripping out the georgia viaduct to free up the land for further development (what that does to traffic is entirely another discussion).

I'm not sure where you feel that the city is against high-density development.

Look at other big cities - they do not have 85% of their land in single family homes and neither should Vancouver.

Are you referring to the City of Vancouver, or GVRD? It sounds as though the former, as the SFD population is seriously dwindling in Vancouver.

The forecast is for the lower mainland population to grow by 30,000 a year. This requires drastic action.

Oh - now we're talking about the entire lower mainland. Guess what, princess? That's about a 6% yearly growth in population. Winfield is tracking above 12% yearly. PANIC!!!!!!!

There's plenty of room in the lower mainland (which extends out to Hope...).

There is also an infringement on basic human property rights!

I didn't realize that you personally owning an investment condo in downtown Yaletown was a basic human right? Sounds as though the 1% property tax is exactly targetting the likes of yourself.