A recreational property developer who builds resort communities is breathing a sigh of relief after Finance Minister Carole James exempted vacation homes from the speculation tax. James also exempted smaller communities, the Gulf Islands, Juan de Fuca and Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
Randy Trapp -- with Luxury Resorts West -- says when the tax was unveiled in last month's provincial budget it nearly killed the $30-million Sunrise Ridge vacation home project in Parksville.
" Just to be prudent developers we pre-sell, usually, the first phase of what we're doing. Once we reach that pre-sale threshold that's when we start construction. We'd gotten to the point where we had reached our pre-sale requirements just as the tax was being announced. Consequently what happened was, we had a number of those pre-sell contracts cancel almost immediately. "
Trapp says the announcement means the company can now try to recover the cancelled deals.
He adds resort communities don't take away from the regular housing market as they are for short term rentals, and they play a vital role supporting economies through construction, jobs and tourism dollars.
Trapp says 40% of the economic activity in Parksville is tourism related, translating to about $130-million in visitor dollars every year. That message was conveyed to provincial officials to help them understand the repercussions the tax would have on the local economy, and he believes it's one of the reasons the government made the changes.