Vacancy Rates in Strata Corporations

Much has been made of a recent report made to the City of Vancouver regarding vacancy rates, particularly in Strata Corporations where it is estimated that approximately 12{e013b784d3a72fb890c716aa74480ba3c3f3d9e4c9f6942fcb94dfe33921e922} of units sit empty.

The City has suggested it may be time to look at either forcing or strongly encouraging Owners to rent their vacant suites out.

For a variety of reasons, this could prove to be problematic (not the least of which is that the Strata Property Act allows Strata Corporations to set rental limits or allowances with very few exceptions).  Some of these problems are described well in this article in the Globe and Mail.

A full and thorough dialogue about this issue needs to occur, and all policy stakeholders should be consulted before any legislative solution is enacted (if a problem even exists, which is debated by many experts).