The B.C. government has announced proposed changes to the Residential Tenancy Act and the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act. Photo courtesy CBC.
The B.C. government is proposing legislative changes to the Residential Tenancy Act and Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act that would allow additional time and compensation for tenants being displaced by renovation or demolition.
“Tenants need stronger protections when a landlord is choosing to renovate or sell their property,” said Selina Robinson, minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said in a release.
“By improving protections, renters, as well as tenants of manufactured home parks, will have better security in these difficult situations.”
The changes were introduced to the B.C. legislature on April 12.
The proposed changes to the Residential Tenancy Act are:
- Notice of evictions for demolition or renovations will change from two months to four months
- Tenants will have 30 days to dispute an eviction notice for demolition, conversion or renovations instead of 15 days
- The compensation for bad-faith evictions will change from two months rent to 12 months rent. Bad-faith evictions include situations where a landlord ended a tenancy for renovation/demolition but do not follow through on their plans or the landlord used a vacate clause because they planned to move back in but then rerented the unit to someone else.
- Tenants in multi-unit buildings at the market rental rate who are being evicted because of renovation or repair will be allowed the right of first refusal
The proposed changes to the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act are:
- The compensation for the closure of a park will increase from 12 months pad rental to $20,000
- The compensation for a home that can’t be moved will now be the assessed value over $20,000
- Landlords can no longer claim disposal costs
- The compensation for bad-faith evictions will change from six months pad rental to 12-month pad rental or $5,000 (greater of the two).
“These changes are part of the B.C. government’s 30-point plan for a more secure and affordable housing market, and will help improve the situation for renters,” said Spencer Chandra Herbert, MLA for Vancouver-West End and chair of the province’s new Rental Housing Task Force.
“The task force will be asking the public to share their ideas for further improvements to the law to make rental housing more secure and affordable for renters, and more attractive to provide for landlords. We expect to make recommendations to the provincial government in fall 2018.”
The provincial government announced a new Rental Housing Task Force on April 10.
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