Vancouver council eyes relief for small housing developers
Proposal would exempt duplexes and multiplexes from empty homes tax—but needs provincial change to align policy.
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Vancouver council will be asked June 9 to consider exempting small-scale duplex and multiplex projects from the city's empty homes tax—a move aimed at reducing financial risk for developers building the "missing middle" housing the city desperately needs.
Under the current bylaw, only residential developments with five or more properties qualify for the vacant new inventory exemption. Staff identified about 10 cases in 2023 and 2024 where smaller projects were denied the exemption and hit with the tax instead.
"The recommended update will ensure that projects delivering new housing units through small-scale duplex and multiplex developments are not subject to the EHT, reducing the financial risks for developers undertaking such projects that advance the city's housing objectives," a staff report states.
The timing reflects a broader policy shift. Since October 2023, when council approved multiplex as a new housing option, duplex and multiplex development approvals have surged. The B.C. government's Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing legislation in November 2023 further encouraged this density in traditionally single-detached areas.
But the provincial exemption still applies only to five or more units—creating a mismatch. Council will also be asked to request that Mayor Ken Sim write to the province seeking amendments to the Speculation and Vacancy Tax Act to align the exemptions.
Vacant new inventory declarations have spiked: from 261 in 2024 to 597 in 2025—a 130 per cent jump, driven by higher interest rates and slower market absorption. Without the exemption, small projects face disproportionate tax risk during slower periods, potentially discouraging the very housing supply the city is trying to encourage.