That does sound like a correct solution. It gives investors an incentive to make sure the houses are not vacant, which drives the rent down. Others should not be affected much by it, so that's a great solution.

Edit: assuming the situation is where there are vacant homes and people willing (but not able to afford) to live in them.

They’ve had it for a few years. It hasn’t done squat.

Turns out having 10 people and 9 homes remains a problem, even if you enact more policies.

They’ve tried everything, except build enough homes. I’m under the impression this is the popular modern across North America

> It hasn't done squat.

You made me go look and I think you're wrong. It wasn't a silver bullet (shocker!) but it did add 18,000 units to the rental market in 2019 and 2020 and raised $231 million in tax revenue that was used to support affordable housing developments.

https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/SVT_Annual_Mayors_Consultation_...

> It hasn’t done squat.

By what metric? I'm not sure that's accurate [0]. It looks like the vacancy rate has seen a steady decline and the money raised ($86.6m) helped Community Housing Incentive Program (CHIP) and Land Acquisition/Development opportunities.

[0] https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/vancouver-2021-empty-homes-ta...

If I am reading the chart correctly, it says a total of (13 + 130 - 7) homes are no longer vacant? That's not a lot

That's from 2019-2020. If you look at the data since this program has been implemented it looks like this more successful (1096 + 706 + 21). It's somewhat expected for this program to have a reduces effect over time as people start making their decision with this policy in mind.

By the one metric that matters: how much do homes cost?

This policy doesn't intend to address real estate affordability but the supply of rental housing in Vancouver. From the document I linked:

> Vancouver continues to experience the lowest rental vacancy rates and highest rents among Canada’s major cities, making rental housing affordability and availability a significant challenge for those who live and work in Vancouver, and those who would like to in the future. In an effort to address this and increase the supply of rental housing in Vancouver, in 2017, the City of Vancouver introduced the Empty Homes Tax (EHT), also known as the Vacancy Tax.

Next few years? These are policies with effects impacting decades...