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Vancouver Tenants Union 'encouraged' by formation of Rental Housing Task Force

Task force formed to produce recommendations to 'modernize' B.C.'s tenancy laws
The Vancouver Tenants Union hopes the newly announced Rental Housing Task Force recommends tough new
The Vancouver Tenants Union hopes the newly announced Rental Housing Task Force recommends tough new measures to deal with challenges faced by renters. Photo Dan Toulgoet

Liam McClure, a member of the Vancouver Tenants Union, is encouraged by the B.C. government’s decision to form a Rental Housing Task Force, but he also wants the government to move faster on tenancy law reforms.

The Vancouver Tenants Union, which launched in April 2017, advocates for renters’ rights.

NDP Premier John Horgan announced the formation of a Rental Housing Task Force Tuesday, April 10. Vancouver-West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert will head up the three-member group, which includes MLAs Adam Olsen and Ronna-Rae Leonard.

“We were hoping for this to happen a little bit faster, but we are encouraged. Spencer Chandra Herbert has been a good advocate for renters and we’re hoping he’ll implement his own past proposals for eliminating renovictions,” McClure said.

“I guess our only concern is that we’ve faced, at this point, about 10 or 14 years of attrition of the affordable rental stock, especially in Vancouver. [It’s] been lost to abuses like renovictions [and] fixed-term leases, so we’re really hoping the recommendations won’t be watered down and that the really aggressive measures that are necessary will be implemented.”

The task force, which is charged with coming up with recommendations to "modernize" B.C.'s tenancy laws, will work through the summer and report its findings in the fall.

It plans to:

  • Consult with the public, landlords, tenants and stakeholders on their views and experiences with current tenancy laws and processes within the rental industry
  • Identify options to improve security and fairness for both renters and landlords, while addressing the challenges of affordability
  • review existing laws and how they apply to different housing models
  • review innovative approaches in other jurisdictions.

Renting in Vancouver is particularly challenging with vacancy rates at close to zero. Many renters have trouble finding affordable homes and fear being evicted because it’s so difficult to find new rental homes.

Since it was elected, the NDP government has instituted some measures to address the problem, including closing the fixed-term lease loophole and eliminating the geographic rent increase clause. The government also bumped up funding for the Residential Tenancy Branch and kicked in $1.1 billion over 10 years to upgrade existing rental stock.

One measure the NDP hasn’t implemented yet is a promised $400 annual rebate for renters in the province, although Horgan has committed to bringing it in before the end of his term.

McClure said the Vancouver Tenants Union would like to see recommendations from the Rental Housing Task Force include vacancy control — a system of rent control similar to what exists in Quebec where rent is tied to the unit and not to the tenant. When a tenant leaves a unit for whatever reason, the price of the unit would remain the same for the next tenant, while the landlord could apply for increases based on increased operating costs for improvements they’ve put into the property.

“That’s the number one measure that’s necessary for preserving existing affordability and also to disincentivize all the different loopholes, all the different abuses that are occurring,” McClure said.

The tenants union also wants automatic Residential Tenancy Branch hearings for all forms of evictions. McClure said in the existing system the onus is on the tenant to dispute an eviction notice through the Residential Tenancy Branch within strict time limits.

“Often the tenant doesn’t even get to see the evidence the landlord is relying on until a week before the hearing,” he said.

McClure doesn’t believe automatic hearings would be too onerous on the system.

He said tenants often win hearings because of unsubstantiated eviction notices, so if a landlord knows that they have to have everything up front for a mandatory hearing, they won’t proceed with frivolous evictions. And, if a tenant knows a landlord has grounds, they’ll be less likely to dispute it.

“We actually think this will help result in a more efficient case load and case streaming process for the Residential Tenancy Branch,” McClure said.

The tenants union also wants protections for renters who do advocacy work or join tenant organizations and organize in buildings.

McClure, meanwhile, isn’t satisfied with the pace of change to rental regulations since the NDP government has been elected. He said anti-renoviction private members bills that were introduced by NDP MLAs who are now cabinet ministers have yet to be implemented after almost a year in government.

“The legislation is written and ready to go and we haven’t seen it implemented,” he said.

noconnor@vancourier.com

@naoibh