“A lot of people feel we should be able to control [the demolition regulations] and stop houses and buildings that are currently housing people during a housing crisis, from being torn down and turned into empty lots,” Mason says.

The motion suggested that adding the empty lot tax and making changes to demolition regulations would help to decrease the amount of housing units that are being torn down and left as empty lots.

“So they are tearing them down, and then their property tax on an empty lot is actually lower than the property tax on a lot that has housing on it,” Mason says.

If the city can adopt a rule to prevent developers from getting a demolition permit until they have a building permit ready for that land, Mason says this could help reduce the amount of empty lots in Halifax. Adding an empty lot tax could also help disincentivize developers from this.

During the council meeting, Coun. Paul Russell disagreed with the empty lot tax because it could lead to buildings being left on a property to decay.

“The core issue here is what kind of tools do we have to try and make sure that we preserve housing now? Mason says. “And close the gap between that housing being torn down for more dense higher population housing and lower the amount of time that that's sitting empty.”

Mason noted that other cities in Canada and the U.S. have adopted similar regulations or an empty lot tax and says this is something the municipality should also consider.

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