Whereas the changes in the Strata Property Act that came into effect on July 28, 2016 can create conflicts among owners within a strata building who want to terminate the strata and sell the strata building and lands and those owners who do not want to terminate the strata and sell the strata building and lands; And whereas the changes in the Strata Property Act that came into effect on July 28, 2016 can also create situations where some owners may receive far less in sales proceeds for their units than their assessed values and force owners who do not want to sell their units to sell their units; And whereas the changes in the Strata Property Act that came into effect on July 28, 2016 may encourage developers to aggressively push strata owners and strata councils to terminate their strata corporations and sell the strata buildings and lands; And whereas, under some circumstances, terminating a strata corporation may be the best choice for strata owners. As some older strata buildings reach the end of their life cycle, the cost of repair may not make economic sense or owners may not have the financial ability to pay for the necessary repairs; And whereas municipalities are limited in their ability to address these issues: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Province to study the impacts related to the changes made in July 2016 to the Strata Property Act and consider increasing the percentage of registered owners required to terminate wind up a strata corporation depending on the results of the proposed study.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing The Provincial Government recognizes that the decision to terminate wind up a strata corporation and sell the property is often a difficult and contentious one. The new 80 percent threshold for terminating strata corporations came into force in 2016 after extensive review and public consultation. The threshold for approval aligns with thresholds for winding up strata developments in many other jurisdictions, including Alberta and Ontario. The recommendations for the threshold were developed by the BC Law Institute BCLI, an independent nonpartisan organization. The volunteer strata review committee had, and continues to have, broad representation, including active participation from the two major strata associations, the Condominium Home Owners Association and the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association. Both strata associations represent strata homeowners. As a result of 2014 public consultation on the proposed strata termination legislation, BCLI added court oversight to its recommendations as a safeguard for strata owners. This provision was adopted by the Province when the legislation was amended and the court can consider significant unfairness to one or more owners when deciding whether to approve a termination. The Ministry regularly monitors the strata legislation to determine whether it is working as intended.