The Rental Housing Task Force has made 23 recommendations aimed at making British Columbia’s rental housing system fairer for all.
The task force, appointed by Premier John Horgan in April 2018, has submitted its final report to the provincial government and made recommendations to make deal with renovictions, to make renting more secure and to improve enforcement of regulations and laws.
"Renting needs to be fair for both renters and for landlords. That's why I asked the Rental Housing Task Force to examine our rental housing laws for ways to make them work better for everyone,” Horgan said in a press release. “I'm pleased with their work, and I look forward to working with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to continue addressing the housing needs of British Columbians."
Vancouver- West End MLA Chandra Herbert chaired the task force, whose recommendations have been presented to Minster of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson.
"Premier Horgan asked us to identify ways to improve security and fairness for renters and landlords throughout the province,” Herbert said in a press release. “After speaking with people in communities throughout B.C., we worked together to deliver balanced recommendations that will make our rental laws better and fairer for everyone involved."
The task force, which travelled to 11 communities around B.C. to get input from renters, landlords and other stakeholders, received more than 430 written submissions and more than 1,400 responses to its online survey. In a report released Dec. 12, the task force identified 23 recommendations for potential new or amended legislation or regulation, and for actions that could modernize and improve the rental housing system for renters and landlords.
According to a press release from the province, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will review the task force's recommendations (see below) over the coming weeks to consider how they might be implemented and will discuss the recommendations with key stakeholder organizations.
Many New Westminster tenants have been awaiting the release of the report as renovictions – where tenants are given eviction notices so property owners can do renovations and increase rents – have been a growing concern in the city.
According to the Rental Housing Review report, the task force heard many stories of renters being evicted due to renovations when they were willing to accommodate the renovations and have their tenancy continue. Renters told the task force about the stress of living with the constant threat of being forced from their home with too little time to find alternative housing in a challenging rental market.
“Under the Residential Tenancy Act, there is a need to provide clear guidance on what accommodations and actions by rental housing providers and tenants are acceptable during renovations,” stated the report. “The lack of clear guidance has left rental housing providers and renters vulnerable to misinterpretation or abuse of the Act.”
The task force stated that improvements should be made to the Residential Tenancy Act to allow for:
* Maintaining tenancy during renovations, as long as the tenant is willing to accommodate construction. Eviction should only be approved if there is evidence that no reasonable accommodations can be made to maintain the tenancy.
* Evictions for renovations should be reserved for the rare instance of serious, major and long-term renovations, such as seismic upgrades, which extend the life of a building considerably where it is impossible to keep tenants in the building due to health and safety risks, or unreasonable to expect a tenancy to continue, due to the extensive length of time a building will be uninhabitable.
“These improvements to the Act, to better accommodate tenants during renovations, are intended to stop evictions for cosmetic changes to a unit, or even bigger renovations like windows, plumbing or electrical work,” stated the report. “During the engagement process, many renters called for improvements to the right of first refusal, specifically asking for tenants to be able to return to their units at the same or a similar rent after renovations have been completed.”
The task force recommended the provincial government monitor recent changes to the Residential Tenancy Act and the changes recommended in its report to determine whether they’re successful at reducing renovictions before taking further action on the right of first refusal.
“If the changes to accommodate tenants during renovations are not implemented, or if they are not successful at reducing renovictions, it is recommended that regulations on the right of first refusal are revisited,” said the report. “Regulations on the right of first refusal could be strengthened to include further regulation, such as addressing rent increases following a tenant exercising their right to return to a rental after renovations.”
Here are the recommendations of the rental housing task force:
Recommendation 1: Stop renovictions.
Recommendation 2: Work with local governments to develop tenant compensation and relocation guidelines in the case of demolition of purpose-built rental to reduce dislocation and homelessness of affected tenants.
Recommendation 3: Set a clear timeline for a tenant’s decision on the use of a right of first refusal.
Recommendation 4: Implement a provincewide rent bank system for low-income people.
Recommendation 5: Strengthen enforcement of the law, including implementing a clear process for making, investigating and reporting administrative penalty complaints.
Recommendation 6: Strengthen penalties for breaking the law, including refusal of service for outstanding administrative penalties.
Recommendation 7: Investigate ways to provide affordable access to bailiff services in smaller and more remote communities.
Recommendation 8: Investigate other options to increase the repayment rate for damages, non-payment of rent and other storage costs if ordered by the Residential Tenancy Branch.
Recommendation 9: Increase the availability of currently empty strata housing by eliminating a strata corporation’s ability to ban owners from renting their own strata units.
Recommendation 10: Maintain rent tied to the renter, not the unit.
Recommendation 11: Work with local governments to develop, implement and enforce short-term rental rules to better protect long-term rental stock.
Recommendation 12: Make the Residential Tenancy Branch more responsive, accessible and proactive with more opportunities to learn from and educate landlords and renters on their rights and responsibilities.
Recommendation 13: Improve fairness and consistency of the Residential Tenancy Branch Dispute Resolution Hearings process by recording all hearings.
Recommendation 14: Improve procedural fairness by expanding review considerations to include more grounds for review.
Recommendation 15: Require landlords who are filing for eviction for cause, or for renovation, to provide all evidence with any eviction notice to the affected tenants.
Recommendation 16: If repairs are needed to maintain a rental home and the landlord is refusing to make them in a timely way, have the Residential Tenancy Branch proactively reduce the rent of affected tenants until the repairs are completed.
Recommendation 17: Allow email as a form of notice of service between landlord and tenants.
Recommendation 18: Speed up the return of damage deposits to tenants by allowing tenants to make a direct request to the Residential Tenancy Branch for the damage deposit where no damage has been found and reported by the landlord.
Recommendation 19: Work with the insurance industry to see if rent guarantee insurance, and other improvements to insurance coverage, might be provided for landlords in B.C.
Recommendation 20: Undertake a review to simplify the regulations relating to a landlord’s obligation to store abandoned personal property.
Recommendation 21: Ensure it is clear for all landlords and renters where to go to get help for all forms of residential tenancy.
Recommendation 22: Address the specific needs of non-profit housing and supportive housing providers in the Residential Tenancy Act.
Recommendation 23: Ensure Manufactured Home Park rules are clear and understandable. Clarify what occurs when park rules conflict with lease or contract rules.
