To better protect tenants and landlords, the BC government is amending the Residential Tenancy Act and the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act.

Here’s a list of proposed amendments.

• Restricting rent increases. If a tenant adds a child under age 19 to their household, landlords can’t increase rent above the annual allowable rent increase even where there’s a term in the tenancy agreement stating rent will increase with new occupants.
• Deterring bad faith evictions. Landlords will be required to use a web portal to generate a notice to evict a tenant for personal use. This new process for evictions will include post-eviction compliance audits and provide information to the ministry about the frequency of these types of evictions.

• Resolving rental disputes faster. Added staff and efficiencies will lead to faster dispute resolution.
• Allowing for flexibility. Where there’s a problematic tenancy, prescribing clearer guidelines for ending tenancy with justified cause.
• Increasing the notice time. A landlord must give a tenant when ending a tenancy for personal occupancy four months’ notice.
• Increasing the time a landlord must occupy a rental unit after ending a tenancy for personal occupancy to 12 months from six months.
• Increasing the time a tenant has to dispute a notice to end tenancy to 30 days from the previous 15 days.
• Prohibiting evictions for personal use in purpose-built rental buildings with five or more units; and
• Prohibiting eviction for the conversion of rental units to specific non-residential uses.

The Ministry of Attorney General’s new Money Judgment Enforcement Act comes into force in 2025, making it easier and less costly for landlords and tenants to get the money owed to them from decisions resulting from Residential Tenancy Branch hearings.

LandlordBC represents the residential rental housing industry in BC, offering education, support, and government advocacy.

Members range from landlords with one unit to those with hundreds of rentals, and include property owners and managers with purpose-built rentals, secondary suites, and investment properties.

The proposed amendments are “a missed opportunity for landlord support,” said David Hutniak, CEO, LandlordBC.

LandlordBC’s has summarized their concerns as follows.

• The BC NDP’s April 2, 2024 announcement, while aimed at increasing tenant protections, lacks substantive measures to support landlords or address the issue of housing supply, potentially harming renters in the long run.
• The new policies will add financial strain on landlords, particularly small, family-run operations, risking a decrease in available rental units as these landlords may exit the market.
• The sector faces a “perfect storm,” where current economic conditions and the announcement’s measures are not conducive to building new rental properties, extending the rental housing crisis.
• LandlordBC supports the government’s acknowledgment of the importance of rental housing providers but emphasizes that the sector is suffering from “death by a thousand cuts,” with renters ultimately suffering the consequences.
• LandlordBC urges the government to take bold steps to support the rental housing sector, suggesting measures like tax reductions and financial support for retrofits, to improve the situation for both landlords and renters.

Read LandlordBC’s news release itemizing the concerns of landlords (opens 5-page pdf).

Read the government’s news release about the proposed amendments.