Speculators are making it impossible for young households to enter into home ownership
Speculator activity is making a new tax on Hamilton’s vacant residences a more attractive policy option, city officials argued.
Earlier this week, Ward 3 councillor Nrinder Nann petitioned the city government to consider emulating Vancouver’s empty homes tax.
She warned that the growing number of moneyed individuals buying homes in Hamilton – and leaving said properties unoccupied, then reselling these for profit – is making it much more difficult for young households and first-time buyers to enter ownership.
“I’ve received anecdotal information from residents that they cannot find housing accommodations in our city,” Nann said in an interview with CBC News.
“At the same time, there’s also anecdotal information I’ve received from other neighbours that they know there’s buildings that are sitting vacant. Not just buildings, but homes. Homes that could be rented out.”
Aggravating the situation is the fact that nearly half of the city’s renters are forced to reside in unaffordable housing, according to research conducted by the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton.
Ward 4 councillor Sam Merulla echoed Nann’s observations, noting that developers have been acquiring whole blocks of units that will be left unoccupied.
“They’ll buy two, three, four condominiums and they’ll flip them later,” Merulla stated. “They are buying in bulk.”
“People are purchasing residential property never intending to live there,” John-Paul Danko of Ward 8 added. “The housing market is being driven by speculation, and [young people] have zero chance of ever entering that market.”
