Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
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Lawson Lundell LLP is a leading western Canadian business law firm with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Yellowknife and Kelowna.Find real estate law updates on this blog.
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
3w ago
On February 29, 2024, Alberta’s Minister of Finance announced Alberta’s 2024 Budget, and in connection with this announcement, the Government of Alberta published its Fiscal Plan for the 2024 – 2027 period. In this Fiscal Plan, the Province outlined their proposal for the introduction of what they are calling a new “Land Titles Registration Levy”, which ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
1M ago
On February 22, 2024, British Columbia’s 2024 Budget was introduced. Included in the Budget are the following measures relating to real estate taxes:
[1] New Home Flipping Tax: The home flipping tax will apply to income from the sale of certain residential property sold on or after January 1, 2025 that was owned for less than 2 years. The tax rate will be 20% for properties ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
2M ago
On February 4, 2024, the federal government announced its intention to extend, by two years, the ban on foreign ownership of residential property, which first came into force on January 1, 2023. Under subsection 237(2) of the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 (the “Budget Implementation Act”), the ban was originally set to be repealed on January 1, 2025 (meaning ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
2M ago
Through various pieces of new legislation, British Columbia (the "Province") is pursuing some of the most significant changes to housing policy in decades.
Developers can expect their negotiations with municipalities for development approval of residential projects to be significantly affected by the following:
Housing Statutes (Residential Development ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
5M ago
On October 24, 2023, the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued a decision finding that additional property transfer taxes of $6,000,000 were payable on a residential property. Both the registered and beneficial owners of the property in question were British Columbia companies and the individuals at the top of the structure were Canadian permanent residents. The ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
5M ago
B.C. Supreme Court allows claim against government for damages for improperly cancelled project
Most development in B.C. requires approval by government, whether through permitting, rezoning, subdivision approval, or licencing. That process often appears opaque to applicants. Denials, which can effectively terminate a project, can be given with little or no ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
6M ago
The federal government has announced they are removing the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) on all new qualifying rental housing constructions to help with the rising cost of living. This is effective September 14, 2023, subject to the passage of the related legislation.
The removal will be by way of an enhanced GST/HST Rental Rebate, available on new ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
8M ago
When are parties permitted to allocate the fair market value for real property for the purpose of remitting property transfer tax? Here is a refresher on the principles of fair market value (FMV) in real property transactions following a recent BC Supreme Court case in which the parties were entitled to allocate FMV to a property at less than the assessed value.
1184369 B.C ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
1y ago
The City of Vancouver imposes an annual Empty Homes Tax (“EHT”) on vacant Vancouver houses and residential lands to encourage owners to tenant the houses and encourage construction of new housing on empty lots. The Province imposes its own Speculation and Vacancy Tax (“SVT”) and the Federal Government imposes a similar Underused Housing Tax.
In April 2023, the ..read more
Lawson Lundell's Real Estate Law Blog
1y ago
In December 2022, Vancouver City Council quietly enacted Bylaw No. 13575 (the “Amendment”), being an amendment to the City of Vancouver’s Parking Bylaw 6059 (the “Parking Bylaw”). Pursuant to the Amendment, accessible parking stalls in strata-titled developments must now be:
held in common ownership; and
not assigned to any strata lot.
Consequently, owner ..read more