Vacant home tax would tap into Saint John ‘gold mine,’ says councillor

'We're sitting on a gold mine of housing in the city, but we just don't have anything in place that disincentivizes the leaving it alone,' said Coun. Brent Harris.

In light of the growing demand for adequate housing and an abundance of properties left wasting away in disrepair, a Saint John councillor wants to see a tax levied on vacant homes.

According to Brent Harris, there are about 70 abandoned properties throughout the city capable of providing around 400 units following renovations.

“So, to me, we’re sitting on a gold mine of housing in the city, but we just don’t have anything in place that disincentivizes the leaving it alone,” Harris said outside a vacant Victoria Street home on Tuesday.

At Monday’s Saint John common council meeting, Harris asked the city manager to review the city’s capacity to implement a vacant house tax. A submitted statement noted the need to “close the gap on wasted housings assets,” adding that they exist through holes in policies.

Council approved the motion, and the matter will be investigated by city staff.

“We would have the support people need to renovate their homes, and we would have that kind of philosophical underpinning as a community to say ‘Hey man’ or ‘Hey person, this is offside, this doesn’t make sense in our community in a housing crisis,’” Harris said on Tuesday.

There are about 1,200 people on a wait-list for affordable housing, many of whom have been waiting for years, he said.

The vacant house tax has been introduced in other Canadian municipalities, most notably Vancouver. Implemented in 2017 at one per cent of a home’s assessed value, the mechanism aims to force owners to sell their property or open it to the rental market.