How does the BC Newly Built Home PTT exemption work?

Direct answer

The Newly Built Home Exemption (Section 12.02 of the Property Transfer Tax Act) gives a full PTT exemption when you buy a newly constructed home (never previously occupied) for $1,100,000 or less. From $1,100,000 to $1,150,000 the exemption phases out linearly; above $1,150,000 it disappears entirely. Thresholds were raised April 1, 2024 — pre-April 2024 caps were $750K/$800K. To qualify you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, move in within 92 days of registration at the Land Title Office, and stay for the remainder of that first year. Moving out early does not cost you the whole exemption: you repay a share of it, pro-rated on the days you were gone. Foreign entities and taxable trustees cannot claim it at all, and someone who becomes a citizen or permanent resident within 12 months of registration can apply for a refund. Eligible property types: a house built on a parcel of vacant land, a unit in a newly built condo building, a manufactured home placed and affixed on vacant land, a house moved onto a vacant parcel, a house created by subdividing an existing improvement, or a building converted from non-residential to residential use. In every case it must not have been occupied since it was built, placed, moved, subdivided or converted. Two conditions the summaries usually drop: the parcel must be 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) or smaller, and this must be the first registration of the property with a completed improvement. A larger parcel does not disqualify you, it drops you to the partial exemption. Worked example on a $1,050,000 newly built Willoughby townhouse: standard PTT would be $2K + $17K = $19,000; the exemption wipes that to zero. The exemption stacks with the first-time-buyer exemption only in narrow cases; most buyers claim one or the other, and on the return that means one exemption code. GST is separate and, since March 2026, usually the larger number: 5% of the price, but a first-time buyer pays none of it on a new home up to $1,000,000, with a reduced rebate to $1,500,000. On that $1,050,000 Willoughby townhouse a first-time buyer owes $0 of transfer tax and $7,500 of the $52,500 GST, so the two exemptions together are worth $64,000.