CRA indicates that a municipal bylaw requiring division of an apartment building into condo rental units could preclude access to the purpose-built rental housing (PBRH) rebate

The company acquired an existing single-family house in order to demolish it and construct two identical buildings, each containing four residential units for long-term rental use. It was unclear whether the municipal authority's bylaws required each unit to be strata-titled or whether it was only each of the two buildings that was required to be strata-titled.

Regarding the first alternative, CRA noted that a "multiple unit residential complex" (MURC) did not include a condominium complex, whose definition relevantly referred to a residential complex that contained more than one residential condominium unit. Accordingly, there would be no eligibility for the PBRH rebate.

Under the second alternative, each building could qualify as a MURC, so that the PBRH rebate would be available if the other requirements were satisfied.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 13 August 2024 GST/HST Interpretation 247663 under Real Property (GST/HST) Regulations, s. 4(2).