The Kamloops Branch of the Canadian Home Builders Association doesn’t want the NDP government to implement the legislation on the speculation tax.
President Rob Lemire says its fortunate the city is not included now, but he’s uncertain about the future. He says development land should not be captured by the tax in order to protect housing affordability
Lemire insists its already an issue in Kamloops.
“We have had developers who have had property. Some are just buying them now for millions of dollars. Others have bought them 20 or 30 years ago and are holding on to it until it makes sense to develop them. All that land that is currently that is currently owned by developers could be taxable.”
Data from the NDP government predicts 32,000 properties will be affected by the tax: 20,000 owned by British Columbians, and the remaining 12,000 by foreigners and out -of-province Canadians.