The province is extending the deadline for people to file information to a registry intended to track the “hidden ownership” of real estate in B.C. The deadline, originally the end of this month, is now the end of November 2022.
The Land Owner Transparency Act came into effect in December, giving both new property buyers and existing property owners a year to disclose interest holders in corporations, trusts and partnerships.
The goal was a publicly searchable database of information about who directly or indirectly owns real estate in hopes of curbing rising home prices fuelled by shell companies, nominees and trusts that allow for obscuring owners’ identities and, potentially, money laundering.
The extension to next year, in part, acknowledges the administrative strain caused by COVID-19. However, it was also sparked by points made by many lawyers and others.
“It’s much easier to say you are doing something than to actually do it,” said Ron Usher, a lawyer who represents B.C.’s notaries public that work on real estate transactions and sat on the panel that led to an overhaul of real estate regulations.
“It’s a very complex law, and it’s going to take time and staffing to explain it to the public and then to enforce it,” said Usher.
An Oct. 25 letter from the Canadian Bar Association’s B.C. branch to the Ministry of Finance said the original deadline was “unrealistic for a number of reasons.”
Even though there was awareness among lawyers, notices were never sent to property owners “alerting them to the Nov. 30, 2021 deadline,” said the letter.
Since trust arrangements don’t require owners to appear on property titles, there was the challenge of figuring out who to inform of the filing deadline.
The letter, more pointedly, also said “there has been a lack of meaningful guidance to legal professionals through authoritative policy statements by the ministry regarding the interpretation and application of the Act.” It warned that a year after the law being enacted people in the legal profession often have differing views of the correct interpretation of the law.
As one lawyer pointed out, the Ministry of Finance provides dozens of bulletins and publications interpreting the Property Transfer Tax, but little information on the much more complex topics of interpreting “indirect control” of real estate and transactions by foreign buyers.
“Legislative complexity coupled with inadequate guidance means that legal professionals are spending more time handling each [transparency] matter, which, in turn, leads to backlogs of client requests and the inability to provide adequate legal representation,” said the letter.
The lawyers’ group argued for an extended deadline because the act is so complex, but has a “scope of penalties” and there is the significant potential for misfilings due to misinterpretations.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
