If there’s a reason that Guelph City Council opted to proceed with a vacant home tax a few weeks ago, at least some of that credits goes to Get Involved Guelph who have been raising concerns for years about the number of houses in the Royal City staying empty, especially in the midst of a housing crisis. Well, the City of Guelph finally agreed that it's time to act, so what does Get Involved Guelph do for an encore?
A few weeks ago, council not only opted to proceed with two new affordable housing projects on...
If there’s a reason that Guelph City Council opted to proceed with a vacant home tax a few weeks ago, at least some of that credits goes to Get Involved Guelph who have been raising concerns for years about the number of houses in the Royal City staying empty, especially in the midst of a housing crisis. Well, the City of Guelph finally agreed that it's time to act, so what does Get Involved Guelph do for an encore?
A few weeks ago, council not only opted to proceed with two new affordable housing projects on City-owned lands, but more notable than that, they approved two new measures to preserve affordable housing that already exists: a renoviction bylaw that will stop predatory landlords from forcing people out of rent controlled units in the name of renovation, and a four per cent vacant home tax on units that stay empty for extended periods of time
This last one was a huge pivot because there have been calls for years for just such a tax, and City of Guelph staff have always hesitated saying that there weren’t enough vacant homes in town to make such a policy worthwhile. With another election beckoning next fall, and a housing crisis that’s every bit as potent now as it was three years ago, if not more so, let us consider how a civic group can still have an impact with two people dedicated enough to change the conversation.
Two members of Get Involved Guelph, Ken Thompson and Susan Watson, will join us on this week’s podcast to talk about the long road to get city hall to act on the need of a vacant home tax. We also talk about courting engagement on Reddit, why the vacant home tax is so important even if it can’t solve the problem of available housing, the next big issue they want to tackle, and how they will attract more new blood to help them achieve their goals, especially with an election next year.
So let's Get Involved, Guelph on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about Get Involved Guelph, sign up for their newsletter, or even nominate a vacant home on their website. The council decisions about proceed with a renoviction bylaw and the vacant home tax will be ratified at the city council meeting next week on Tuesday November 25, and you have until this Friday at 10 am to either send a correspondence or sign up to delegate, and to learn how to do that go to the City of Guelph website.
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