By Jonathan Blair, Lawyer at CLP
This week Premier Eby announced a standalone ministry to deal with the housing crisis in British Columbia and, as a first step, new legislation to increase the supply of rental units. These changes will ensure that the owners of individual strata units – like apartments, condos, and townhouses – can rent their units to increase the rental housing supply. Stratas will no longer be allowed to make rules that prevent owners from renting their units.
We are encouraged to see that the provincial government is putting an increased focus on the housing crisis presently facing British Columbians. Increasing housing supply is certainly one important aspect of addressing this growing problem.
However, housing supply alone will not solve BC’s housing crisis. Affordability and security of tenancies are essential components of ensuring everyone has a home. The provincial government must also put in place stronger safeguards against unwarranted evictions and stronger rent-control measures to curb rent increases between tenancies. Right now, there are caps on rent increases during a tenancy. But when a landlord evicts a tenant, there are no restrictions on what the landlord can charge the new tenant moving in. This gives landlords a strong financial incentive to evict tenants so they can raise the rent and maximize profits.
Unless rent increases between tenancies are controlled, landlords will continue to pursue unwarranted evictions as a means of raising the rent beyond the allowable amount. Uncontrolled rent increases between tenancies will undermine much of the benefit that could result from the government’s current efforts to increase affordable, secure rental housing supply.
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