Whereas the practice of renovictions, by which some landlords evict their tenants under the guise of performing major renovations and then significantly increase the rent of those units, is on the rise in our province; And whereas this practice is very disruptive to those impacted, including the elderly, low-income families, and new immigrants, and contributes to housing unaffordability and homelessness; And whereas municipalities are limited in their ability to address this issue and many tenants are unaware of their rights or are reluctant to exercise them: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to undertake a broad review of the Residential Tenancy Act including, but not limited to, amending the Residential Tenancy Act to: - allow renters the right of first refusal to return to their units at a rent that is no more than what the landlord could lawfully have charged, including allowable annual increases, if there had been no interruption in the tenancy; - eliminate or amend fixed-term tenancy agreements to prevent significant rent increases upon renewal; and - permit one tenant or applicant to represent and take collective action on behalf of all tenants in a building.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Housing Government knows that not enough has been done to help renters in BC. This is a growing problem as tenants face challenges finding accommodation because of low vacancy rates and the high cost of rental housing. Government is committed to building 114,000 units of affordable housing through partnerships in order to increase supply. Government has already taken steps to improve protection for renters by increasing funding for the Residential Tenancy Branch to reduce wait times and to implement a compliance unit to take action against landlords and tenants who are repeat or serious offenders. A key priority is to amend the Residential Tenancy Act to provide stronger protection for tenants. Recent amendments closed what was known as the fixed-term lease loophole that allowed landlords to bypass rent control. Limiting the use of vacate clauses in fixed term tenancy agreements and limiting rent increases between fixed term tenancy agreements with the same tenant to the maximum annual allowable amount will give tenants the security they deserve when signing a rental lease and protection from unfair rent increases. Ministry staff are undertaking work on options to strengthen protection for renters facing other challenging situations, including those being evicted due to renovations and demolitions, and to ensure that landlords are following the law.