via Heather…

The goal of the Vacant Unit Tax (VUT) program is to ensure that properties don’t sit vacant and crumbling for eons, when they could be rented instead. This has been a problem in Ottawa, with investors buying up properties, evicting the tenants, then leaving them vacant and “composting”, sometimes for years. Champlain Park has not been immune to this sort of activity.

The City’s intention is good and, coupled with other ongoing initiatives, may well prevent unnecessary evictions and homelessness. I don’t like the negative option approach, but in an increasingly cash-strapped city, maybe it’s the most efficient approach for now? One hopes that Ottawa will, sooner rather than later, find a way to marry the tax data on principal residences, and the VUT program, so homeowners won’t have to, every year, re-declare their principal residences online.

Here’s an example of a house in Champlain Park that had been abandoned and left to crumble for about 20 years, in spite of repeated appeals to the City by neighbours and the Community Association. When the house was first abandoned, it could have been affordable housing for a young family. At last, the absentee owner sold the property to a family who built a new home on the property. (2014 photo from Google Maps Street View):