The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
MR. JOHN HORGAN
This Bill establishes a housing affordability fund paid for by individuals who purchase and hold properties vacant as investments, rather than renting them or permitting people who live and work in the community to purchase them.
The mechanism of revenue generation for this fund has the beneficial effect of tracking the extent of speculation in the real estate market of the Lower Mainland. It also provides additional support for purchasers who actually live in or rent out properties and contribute to the economy directly in two ways: first, by imposing an additional levy on speculators based on the value of the property in question that is not imposed on those who live and work in our communities it gives an advantage to non-speculators. Second, by legislating that the proceeds of this levy go to a housing affordability fund to build and support affordable housing initiatives in the jurisdictions that adopt the fund, it creates additional opportunities for affordable housing.
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
(1) The short title of this Act is the "Housing Affordability Fund Act".
(2) In this Act:
"authority" means the British Columbia Assessment Authority as specified in the Assessment Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 20.
"fair market valuation" is the value of a property as determined by the Authority pursuant to the Assessment Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 20.
"homeowner" means the owner of the strata property, real property, and any buildings or improvements, as listed on the registered title filed at the British Columbia land title office.
"housing affordability levy" is 2% of the fair market valuation of all of the properties owned by the homeowner.
"household" is the collective of people who live with the homeowner in the same housing unit to which the levy is being applied, and includes the homeowner.
"income tax" means combined federal and British Columbia provincial income tax liability of the household for the same tax year in which the Housing Affordability Levy is imposed. If the homeowner is not resident in the property as his or her primary residence the income tax is deemed to be zero.
"participating jurisdiction" means Metro Vancouver, and any municipality or region included by regulation.
(3) Every strata property and real property in a participating jurisdiction shall have an annual Housing Affordability Levy applied to its fair market value.
(4) The Authority shall provide notice of the Housing Affordability Levy to each registered property owner with the property owner’s annual Notice of Assessment form.
(5) This notice shall include a list of exemptions and a form to apply for exemption from the Housing Affordability Levy, which must require the applicant for exemption provide the applicant’s Social Insurance Number for purposes of verification of eligibility.
(6) The governing council of any local government which seeks to implement this Act may request participating jurisdiction status by passing a majority vote motion as prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council by regulation. That request must be approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and be listed in the regulation before it is effective in the following calendar year.
(7) The governing regional council of any region which seeks to implement this Act may request participating jurisdiction status by passing a majority vote motion as prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council by regulation, and must have a motion described in section 7 passed by at least three quarters of the local governments in the region. That request must be approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and be listed in the regulation before it is effective in the following calendar year.
(8) The following individuals are exempt from the Housing Affordability Levy:
(a) Any homeowner who is liable for income tax in excess of the amount of the Housing Affordability Levy is exempt from the Levy.
(b) Any homeowner who is liable for income tax less than the amount of the Housing Affordability Levy must pay the difference between that person’s income tax liability and the Housing Affordability Levy to the Receiver General for British Columbia.
(c) Any homeowner who does not qualify for the exemption in section 8 of this Act, and who:
(i) rents the property to an arm’s length party as defined by the Income Tax Act at market rent; and,
(ii) declares the value of the rent in his or her income tax return, may deduct from the Housing Affordability Levy the rental income declared for the property dollar for dollar.
(d) Any homeowner who has lived in his or her property continuously as primary residence for more than 5 years predating the year of the Housing Affordability Levy levied is exempt from the Levy.
(e) Any permanent resident or Canadian citizen who is 55 years of age or older who lives more than six months per year in the province and would have qualified for exemption 8(d) but for selling his or her primary residence in the province of more than ten years in the last ten year period and using those sale proceeds to buy another property to use as his or her primary residence, is deemed to have lived in his or her new primary residence for ten years for the purposes of this Act.
(9) The authority will make available all data collected through the administration of the Housing Affordability Levy or the Assessment Act to designated researchers or organizations listed in regulation by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(10) The Lieutenant Governor in Council must, by regulation, in consultation with the Privacy Commissioner, establish safeguards that must be agreed to by any designated researchers or institutions before the authority may grant access to any data.
(11) All proceeds of the Housing Affordability Fee and Additional Speculator Levy must be paid into a segregated Housing Affordability Fund to be established by the Minister of Finance. The Housing Affordability Fund proceeds received from a participating jurisdiction and any interest on these proceeds must be used exclusively for funding provincial housing affordability initiatives in that same participating jurisdiction.