This is Part 4 in a multi-part series on the impact of new housing rules on Coquitlam neighbourhoods.

Homeowners could be in for a surprise when they open their assessments in the next few years.

If they live in an area nearing Skytrain stations or transit hubs, they could be looking at a significant increase in their property taxes due to the new housing rules adopted by the provincial NDP government.

“When governments dramatically increase permitted density, the market quickly incorporates that additional development potential into land values,” writes Investment Advisor, Mark Schoeffel. “The result is predictable. Land becomes more expensive and those higher costs ultimately flow through to the price of housing.”

To understand why this is the case, it’s important to understand how your land is assessed.

According to their website, BC Assessment assesses property values based on its highest and best use.

“Highest and best use, as if vacant and/or improved, must be determined as the reasonably probable use of real property that is: legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible, and maximally productive.”

If you live in a Transit Oriented Development (i.e. near a SkyTrain station or transit hub), your property has likely been rezoned for either highrise towers (20 storeys+) or medium density housing (8-12 storeys).

And since towers can be built on your land, that becomes its highest and best use. The result is that the value of the property may skyrocket.

Meanwhile, the assessments are used to determine your property taxes. The higher the assessment, the higher the property taxes.

For example, a homeowner with a single family home assessed at $1.5M in 2025 will have property taxes around $5,700 in 2026.

However, under the new housing laws (passed by the provincial government), the value of the land could increase significantly. If the land doubled in value (to $3M), the homeowner could have a property tax bill in 2027 of $10,500, twice what they were required to pay the previous year.

These homeowners could face a double whammy of taxation. Due to general market conditions, housing assessments are decreasing across the board. As a result, if a homeowner sees an increase in the value of their property, the proportion of the property tax they would have to pay would also increase.

The reason is that the City sets its budget each year, and they allocate that budget to each household in relation to their housing assessment.

In other words, the homeowners near transit hubs would pay a huge increase in property taxes while everyone else would face a slight decrease.

But wait, there’s more. The homeowners grant of $570 per year is phased out at $2.2M, meaning that the actual impact would be even greater.

For long-term homeowners, there is some relief. If you have lived in your house for more than 10 years, you can appeal and have your property assessed based on its “actual use” rather than its highest and best use.

However, if you’ve lived in your house less than 10 years, you are out of luck.