A tax on unsold condos and a higher tax on empty homes
The BC NDP would create an Unsold Condo Tax on finished condos left unsold for more than a year, and raise the speculation and vacancy tax by one percentage point.
HOUSING SUPPLY AND RENTAL RULES
BC NDP on housing
The BC NDP announced its housing promises for this campaign in Burnaby on September 25, 2026. Both promises change taxes on homes that stand empty.
The party says its speculation and vacancy tax, a yearly tax on homes left empty, has already turned 20,000 empty units into homes. That is the party’s own figure, and voche.me has not checked it.
The party’s “Results for You” page lists housing actions it says it took in government, such as rules that allow townhouses, duplexes and triplexes, and limits on short-term rentals. The page carries no date, and some of its figures refer to 2024.
2 PUBLISHED COMMITMENTS
What they say they will do
A new Unsold Condo Tax
Developers who leave a finished condo unsold for more than one year would pay a tax that starts at 2% and rises by 1% for each further year. The party says this could bring up to 5,000 condos onto the market.
- Cost
- The party has not published how much the tax would raise.
- Who has the power
- A provincial tax. The legislature would have to pass it.
BC NDPMaple Ridge News (Black Press)The Canadian Press, via National Newswatch
A higher speculation and vacancy tax
The tax would rise by one percentage point: from 1% to 2% for owners in Canada and from 4% to 5% for foreign owners. The party says any extra money would go to building affordable homes.
- Cost
- The party has not published how much the change would raise.
- Who has the power
- A provincial tax. The legislature sets the rates.
What is not published
- The party has not published how much money either tax change would raise.
- No new target for the number of homes to be built was found in the 2026 campaign releases.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about this
What is the Unsold Condo Tax?
It is a tax the BC NDP says it would create for finished condos that a developer has not sold after one year. The rate would start at 2% in the second year and rise by 1% each year after that. The Black Press report says the rate would apply to the condo’s assessed value.
Sources
A source marked SAYS SO ITSELF is the party's own material. It proves what the party claims, not that the claim is true.
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