Ottawa Vacant Unit Tax: Committees approve strengthening [Video]

A joint meeting of the Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing committees has voted to approve a plan that would strengthen the city’s Vacant Unit Tax.

The VUT was implemented by council in 2022 to encourage homeowners to occupy or rent their properties to address the affordable housing crisis in the city. Properties that are declared vacant for more than 184 days in the previous calendar year are charged a fee equivalent to 1 per cent of the property’s assessed value on their final property tax bill.

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The new measures approved by committee on Wednesday would implement a graduated VUT rate that increases by one per cent a year for repeat vacancies, up to a maximum of five per cent of assessed value. The changes would also add approximately 1,200 more units to …