Taxing empty apartments could ease the housing crisis
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A remarkable number of apartments in big cities are used as investment properties or second homes, and sit mostly unoccupied. New numbers show the big difference a tax on these vacant units could make.
When Vancouver passed a tax on homes that sit empty for more than six months out of the year–apartments that serve as pieds-à-terre or investments for the rich, for example–it made a difference: The city recently reported that the number of empty properties dropped 15% between 2017, when the law took effect, and 2018. More than half of those homes went back on the rental market, presumably to avoid the tax. The city also raised more than $38 million, most of which will go to affordable housing programs.