“Real estate investment trusts enjoy preferential tax treatment, and the seven largest REITs alone have saved a combined $1.5 billion through federal tax loopholes,” Kwan said in her private member’s bill.
The NDP is calling for a moratorium “on the acquisition of affordable homes by financialized landlords, including REITs and corporate firms” — and for REITs’ tax rebates to instead go into social housing….
On another housing front, Kwan is trying to change how tenants often find it impossible to learn the names of their landlords.
Her private member’s bill seeks to “mandate landlords to disclose property ownership,” since Kwan said many people who own rental housing hide their identities through numbered companies.
