U.S. Cities Look to Vancouver’s Novel Empty Homes Tax

Three years after Vancouver became the first North American municipality to levy a tax on empty homes, several cities in the U.S. are looking to follow the Canadian trailblazer.

City representatives in Honolulu, and San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all want to emulate Vancouver’s 1% tax on vacant homes, which funnels revenue into “affordable housing initiatives.”

The furthest along is San Diego, where officials are planning to conduct a study on the vacancy issue. Scott Marshall, vice president of communications at the San Diego Housing Commission, said the agency will seek to hire a consultant ...