Report says tax on $1M+ homes could be key to making housing more affordable
VANCOUVER — An annual surtax on houses valued over $1 million could help reduce housing inequality and cool housing markets, a report says.
Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze and author of the report published Wednesday with input from 80 experts, said it’s part of a suite of recommendations aiming to shift the cultural view of housing as an investment to housing as a place to live.
“Just as government has implemented prices on pollution to curb our carbon emissions to address climate change, so we need to have a price on housing inequity to slow down the skyrocketing housing prices that are eroding housing affordability,” said Kershaw, associate professor at the University of B.C.’s School of Population and Public Health.
The report proposes a progressive surtax starting at 0.2 per cent and peaking at one per cent on homes valued over $1 million. It would be applied annually and would be due when the property sells.