[monkeynotes]

It's not really as black and white as that. If a city, such as Vancouver, is suffering from large economic and social problems caused by foreign investors sitting on prime real estate then you have to eventually do something about it for the sake of everyone actually living in the city.

The city is for living in, else it's a dying city. This step taken by the city of Vancouver isn't reactive, the problem has been propagating for 15+ years and has started to have a very large negative impact on the people who want to live there.

I myself, and many others that I know, have moved away from Vancouver or are planning to exit because they can't find or can't afford accommodation. It's not like SF where huge salary and booming business jacks up the prices. Vancouver is just a regular city.

[murbard2]

There is something you could do, liberalize building permits: if we can build housing, particularly tall buildings, the cost of apartments will remain low. But more importantly, liberalize rental leases.

Why would you sit on prime investment property and not rent it? Because when it comes time to sell, you may end up with a tenant who's not paying rent and whom you cannot evict. The cost may just be large enough to forego the income of having a renter. Laws meant to protect bad renters end up hurting everyone.

Or we could slap more bad laws on top of more bad laws.

[monkeynotes]

How would you liberalize rental leases? The lessor can already kick someone out when they want to sell, I mean they need 2 months notice but I think that is entirely fair. Foreign investors (Chinese millionaires) don't give a crap about rental income. They don't want the headache, property is merely a cash investment hedge for them to sit on care-free.

More liberal building permits? Have you seen downtown Vancouver? There are towers everywhere. Infrastructure already cannot keep up with the pace of development in the city and surrounding it.

The city should have had a much better long term plan and not grabbed easy cash when it was available. Chinese investment was good for cleaning up Yaletown but it's gutted the city as far as I am concerned. Vancouver is a beautiful place but it's like a vapid supermodel. Nice to look at, but not something I could live with.

[conanbatt]

Wouldnt this problem sort itself out, if an area suffers a downturn because of vacant property, property loses value and then investors would pull out.

I remain very unconvinced on how this is a good thing, but i can see how easy it is to sell to capture more tax.