data, economy, Europe, opinion

The Ghost Town Tax

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99 Comments

Are empty homes bad for a city?

Some people think so, and in parts of London they’ve decided to heavily tax owners of empty property:

Camden council, a Labour-run authority in north London, which covers Primrose Hill, wants to charge owners of homes that have been empty for more than two years double the normal council tax in a bid to return vacant properties to use.

The scheme has already had some impact, with owners of empty properties being charged 50 per cent extra, but the council has now suggested a further increase could bring back almost 200 homes to use. Since the council introduced a 50 per cent extra charge last year, the number of long term empty houses has fallen from 248 to 162.

Read the full article over at the Telegraph.

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snake

@ paulb

three sold property how much those went for ?

1)401B – 3680 RAE AVE Vancouver – V1011905

2)2 – 862 EAST BROADWAY Vancouver – V979484

3)304 – 3624 fraser st Vancouver

Thanks in advance
———————————————
anybody have use this site and it works ?

http://iverify.com/index.php

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Interest Only

Ok my fellow economists and analysts.

Retail Sales are coming out tomorrow. If you remember, last month they were blow out numbers that many suggested signaled a return of Canadian consumer strength. It was a bit of an wishful call considering it was only one data point.

I say YoY Sales are down 1%.

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tedeastside

everyone wants to live in vancouver cuz it has really awesome mountain views n stuff therefor Vancouver will never go down

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Softy

“Many more HongKong stock investors will get margin calls by the end of the business day.
More desperate calls to their RE agent in Vancouver: Sell,Sell!”

Hope and dreams. They can sustain your belief for over a decade, as we have seen on this blog. Whatever allows you to look yourself in the mirror.

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Naked Official #8888

Re pitch and putts – the city is about to halt all maintenance and staffing over the winter – yea the public will be able to golf for free over the winter, which of course will destroy the course and drive up maintenance fees for resumption in spring, eventually driving the service into the red and forcing the public via global to turn it all into sweet, sweet condos, preferably without any 4s in the addresses or elevators. I hate 4s.

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tedeastside

a few years ago i volunteered at a free school supplies charity event for poor kids in the DTES, and it was mostly Chinese kids wearing designer clothes that showed up…no surprises there

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oneangryslav2

“Son of Ponzi Says:
August 20th, 2013 at 8:11 pm 82

Randy Randerson,
What’s your name in Chinese?”

Landy Landelson? 😉 Sorry about that, but I just had to…it was like a hanging curve out over the middle of the plate.

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YLTNboomerang

@T #70

Burrard civic and Heather civic marinas, both city owned and operated. City Hall daycare, subsidized location (city hall employees a priority). One thing that is civic and not overly crowded are the pitch and putts in town though this is probably not a major attraction to the general populace but a great fun afternoon IMO. Funny thing about the pitch and putts is that children under 13 have to present their training card but adults can play without a clue of the rules or etiquette .

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Son of Ponzi

I remember Larry Campbell was on of the first to buy two units in the Olympic Village, unseen.
I wonder what he thinks about his investment now?

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snake

@ paulb

three sold property how much those went for ?

1)401B – 3680 RAE AVE Vancouver – V1011905

2)2 – 862 EAST BROADWAY Vancouver – V979484

3)304 – 3624 fraser st Vancouver

Thanks in advance
———————————————
anybody have use this site and it works ?

http://iverify.com/index.php

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Son of Ponzi

350 k per condo.
I can see a class action suit from all the poor suckers who paid 500k plus.

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Son of Ponzi

Hangseng is down again 300 points.
Many more HongKong stock investors will get margin calls by the end of the business day.
More desperate calls to their RE agent in Vancouver: Sell,Sell!

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Anonymous1

bental got a steal!

$350,000 per condo! Someone was probably paid off somewhere.

These will be cash flow positive from day 1.

Wow!

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paulb

New Listings 222
Price Changes 107
Sold Listings 121
TI:17462

http://www.paulboenisch.com

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Son of Ponzi

Barney Bentall,
Great Band, Lousy investors!

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Son of Ponzi

My son had hockey practise at the Richmond OWAL yesterday.
I took a stroll around the facility and noticed a lot of neglect and shoddy workmanship.
Just like the Olympic Village and the Canada Line everything was rushed to be ready before the opening day.
Get ready to pay through the nose once this facilities are starting to fall apart.

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Barney Bentall

Yup Bental no dummy, he reap benefit of Vancouver taxpayers on the hook forhalf a billion, Rennie also racking in the hay

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Son of Ponzi

Randy Randerson,
What’s your name in Chinese?

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Gokou3

$350k per ov unit sounds quite low relative to market price. I dont recall ever seeing any ov units priced in this range. The average unit in the lower end is like $500k. Did bentall just get a 30% discount?

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Xyz

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bnc/apa/3963250249.html

Desperate seller alert!!!

Wants you to pay big money to move in for 6 months, get interrupted with showings once a week, pay full months rent as deposit( illegal ), and make the place look spotless at all times and no wear and tear allowed because of massive renovations….

Haha good luck with that buddy!

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jesse

Rennie should be commended for recouping taxpayer money from willing and able buyers. I am sure he was well rewarded for his efforts, undoubtedly a more politically expedient path than selling the units in bulk at a large discount. The NPA could have done no better. The City net of fees is still out 250-300 million. But VCIers could have accurately predicted that three years ago. Actually… I think they did!

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Randy Randerson

#75

88 units left…is this another Rennie™ jab at getting some Chinese buyers? I’m Chinese and I’m so sick of everything with the number 8 in it.

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jesse

Urban daycare spots have significant subsidy, in part because it would be uneconomical to build them otherwise. NGOs that run them get a rent based on a defined revenue stream and expenses, that is mostly departed from the market price of the real estate they occupy. Despite that, they still cost a lot. Just because they are not cheap doesn’t mean they aren’t subsidized.

Getting daycare spots in the city is tough, it gets easier the further from downtown you get. Should be no surprise families with kids migrate.

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bobby

day care
i have to say it is disgraceful for our society not to provide enough day care options. It is just shameful. So much money spent on propaganda, military, fucking wars, and not on children. it just pissing me of.

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Best place on meth

Only 88 Olympic Village market units left to sell according to Global and a proud, beaming Rennie.

Only minutes earlier Global had reported how rising sea levels could affect Vancouver waterfront areas.

Oh well…

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