Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenC12
Everybody knows Vancouver has expensive housing. Do you have a point to your endless ranting on the same topics?
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Thanks for asking, as I most certainly do.
The whole point of housing, at least in most cities, is to do exactly that, provide housing. Vancouver & BC have decided thru the years that it should be instead used as a place to flip like a stock. Of course, playing it like a stock hurts the actual citizens who need a place to live. Although the damage is done and now Vancouver is now more of a resort for the wealthy as opposed to a city for the people, there are concrete actions that gov't can take to bring back "livability" for the actual people who live here:
First, buying a SFH just to replace it with another SFH must be banned. The new purchaser of the land cannot build on it unless the housing increases supply. So if a SFH is sold, any replacement building must have at LEAST 5X density or be a commercial building. No one except the top 1% cannot afford to pull down a ugly $2 million house and replace it with another one. It's Money Laundering 101.
Second, anyone with more than 3 properties in the province should be "encouraged" to get rid of them. You can't force someone to sell but you can twist their arm. Any property above that 3 limit {the homes of which would be the owners choice} would be subject to a 25% sales tax. They would be given 18 months before the sales tax begins so anyone renting has more than enough time to find alternate accommodation. "Investors" would sell lest they pay this sales tax later. It would also put a dead stop to new "investors" from buying current properties.
Third, put a general sales tax on all homes over $1 million. 1% for the first million and going up by 1% every $500k after that and send those funds 100% towards affordable housing.
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