Multiple home owner grant

The multiple home owner grant allows property owners to apply for the home owner grant on behalf of eligible occupants living in their building or on their property.

If you own property that qualifies for the multiple home owner grant, you must apply for the grant each year to receive it and pass on the benefit to your eligible occupants.

Individuals: If you're claiming a home owner grant for yourself, do not use the multiple home owner grant application. Instead, apply using the regular home owner grant application.

Find out:

• If you qualify
• How grant amounts are determined
• How to apply

Do I qualify?

To qualify for the multiple home owner grant you must:

• Be the registered owner of:
  • An eligible building, or
  • Eligible land

And

• Have eligible occupants living on your property

Eligible buildings

An eligible building must be one of the following:

• Housing co-operative building: A building owned by a housing co-operative under the Cooperative Association Act that is used by the co-operative to provide living space for its members.
• Housing corporation building: A building owned by a corporation that operates exclusively for the benefit of its shareholders.
• Housing society building: A building owned by a society under the Society Act that is used by the society to provide living space for individuals who hold a right to occupy a unit in the building.
• Provincially designated apartment building: A building designated by the province that leases apartments under a registered lease with a term of at least 99 years.

Eligible land

Eligible land must be one of the following:

• Land co-operative: Land owned by a corporation exclusively for the benefit of its shareholders.
• Multi-dwelling leased parcel: Land leased out in portion to individuals who have built residences or placed manufactured homes on their portion. There must be at least two residences on the entire parcel of land and the term of the leases must be at least one year.

Eligible occupants

Eligible occupants differ, depending on the type of eligible building or land:

Eligible Building	Eligible Occupant
Housing co-operative building	An individual who is a member of the housing co-operative and who owns a share that carries with it the right to occupy their unit.
Housing corporation building	An individual who has a right to occupy an apartment in the building and who owns shares, or a combination of shares and other securities, equal in value to their apartment.
Housing society building	An individual who owns a right to occupy a unit in the building. They must have purchased the right to occupy the unit for at least 25 percent of the assessed value of their unit.
Provincially designated apartment building	An individual who is the lessee under the 99 year lease. Their lease agreement must require them to pay property taxes for their apartment.

 

Eligible Land	Eligible Occupant
Land co-operative	An individual who has a right to occupy a site on the land and owns shares, or a combination of shares and other securities, equal in value to their site.
Multi dwelling leased parcel	An individual who owns a residence on the parcel.

Your grant amount

The amount of a multiple home owner grant is determined based on:

• The grant amounts your eligible occupants qualify for
• The property taxes your eligible occupants owe

Your eligible occupants’ grant amounts

In order to claim a home owner grant on behalf of your eligible occupants, they must meet all qualifications for a home owner grant, with the exception of being the registered owner.

If an eligible occupant qualifies as a senior, veteran or person with a disability, they may be entitled to a higher grant amount.

You will find out the grant amount they are applying for when they provide you with their Application for Home Owner Grant - Eligible Occupant (FIN 68) (PDF).

Your eligible occupants’ property taxes

The property taxes attributed to your eligible occupants depend on the value or size of their residence and the lease agreement or rights that are in place for your building or property.

Find out more about how your grant amount is calculated.

How to apply

As the property owner, you must apply for the multiple home owner grant each year to receive it.

On the date you apply, you and the eligible occupant(s) must meet the qualifications.

To apply:

1. Instruct each eligible occupant to complete the Application for Home Owner Grant - Eligible Occupant (FIN 68) (PDF) and to give you the original copy and any supporting documents.
2. Complete the online multiple home owner grant application:

Apply Now

What to do for late applicants or changes to grant calculation

If you have a late applicant or need to change the grant calculation, resubmit the entire list of eligible occupants and include any additions in order for the homeowner grant to calculate correctly. The original submission date will be adjusted.

Eligible occupants spreadsheet (XLS) – You must import this template  into the apartment/housing building category of the multiple home owner grant application. For land co-op and multiple leased dwelling parcel type applications, manually enter the eligible occupant information.

Check your application status

After you apply, you can check your status online using your confirmation number.

Keep copies of all documentation, including the FIN 68, for your records. Do not submit these with your application. In case of an audit, you will be required to submit these forms.

If this is your first time applying on behalf of eligible occupants living in your building or on your land, you may be required to provide documentation, such as copies of shareholder documents and leases, to confirm your property qualifies for the multiple home owner grant.

If additional documentation is required to qualify for the multiple home owner grant, we will contact you. You can submit these documents to us online.

Submit documents online

How to complete the online application

The grant amount attributed to each eligible occupant and the net taxes attributed to each residence are automatically calculated for you when you enter the following required information into the multiple home owner grant online application.

• The grant type for each eligible occupant
• The net taxable residential value of each residence
• The current year taxes attributed to each residence

Grant type for each eligible occupant

Enter the type of grant each eligible occupant applied for on their Application for Home Owner Grant - Eligible Occupant (FIN 68) (PDF).

Net taxable residential value of each residence

Enter the net taxable residential value for each residence. If the net taxable residential value of a residence is over the threshold (currently $2,150,000), the grant amount attributed to the occupant will be automatically reduced. The grant is reduced by $5 for each $1,000 of value over the threshold.

To calculate the net taxable residential value for each residence, you will need to refer to your current property assessment notice. For some property types, such as land co-operatives, you may need to refer to multiple separate assessment notices.

Find out how to calculate the net taxable residential value for each residence in a:

Current year taxes attributed to each residence

Enter the current year taxes attributed to each residence.

For a residence in a housing co-operative building, housing corporation building, housing society building, or provincially designated apartment building or a land co-operative, this is usually the gross amount of current year taxes you assessed the eligible occupant under the shareholder, member or lease agreement.  

For example:

• The corporate owner of a 10-lot land co-operative receives a tax notice for the land for $4,800 plus a tax notice for the residence located on Lot A for $530.
• Under the terms of the shareholder agreement, the corporation assesses the occupant of Lot A $1,010 for current year taxes.  The amount is a combination of the $530 in taxes levied on the residence plus $480 (1/10 of  $4,800 in taxes levied for the land).

For a multi-dwelling leased parcel residence, it's the gross amount of current year taxes levied in the tax notice for the residence.

Eligible occupants must pay at least $350 (or $100 for qualifying seniors, spouses of deceased veterans, people with disabilities, or people living with a spouse or relative with a disability) before they can receive a home owner grant.

If the full grant amount reduces the net taxes attributed to the residence below the minimum tax amount, the grant amount will be automatically reduced. If the current year taxes attributed to the residence are less than the minimum tax amount, the grant amount is reduced to $0.

We will not accept an allocation of taxes between eligible occupants that is intended to avoid the minimum tax requirement. For example, the current year taxes reported for an occupant who qualifies for the additional grant amount should be comparable to the amount reported for an occupant of a similar residence who is only entitled to the regular grant amount. If we disagree with the current year taxes attributed to a residence, you may be required to resubmit the application.

What to do for late applicants or changes to grant calculation

If you have a late applicant or need to change the grant calculation, resubmit the entire list of eligible occupants and include any additions in order for the homeowner grant to calculate correctly. The original submission date will be adjusted.

Eligible occupants spreadsheet (XLS) – If you are entering occupants for land co-op and multiple leased dwelling parcel type applications, you must manually enter the eligible occupant information. If there are multiple eligible occupants when applying for the apartment/housing building category of the multiple home owner grant application, you can list them all on this spreadsheet and then import it into the home owner grant application through eTaxBC.

Enrol for eTaxBC

Building and land owners of rural properties can enrol for access to eTaxBC. With an eTaxBC account, you can pay your property taxes and view your transaction and form submission history. 

Note: this service is not available for properties located in municipalities. 

You will need your enrolment code to get started. This code can be found on your tax notice. When you enrol, select Property Tax - Rural as your Account Type.

To complete your multiple home owner grant application using your eTaxBC account:

• Log on to your eTaxBC account
• Click on your Property Tax – Rural account
• Click on Apply for Multiple Home Owner Grant listed under I Want To in the top right corner
• Complete all required fields
• Click Submit