By Canadian Press

B.C. to ban some ‘personal use’ evictions, stop rent increases over new children

Apr 2, 2024 | 2:06 PM

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government is making changes to rental laws, stopping bad-faith evictions, protecting families who add a child and helping landlords who have problematic tenants. 

Premier David Eby says some landlords are tempted to use the “personal use” rule as an excuse to evict long-term tenants paying lower rents and then will quickly rent the unit to people paying much higher market rates.

Changes to the laws would ban evictions for personal use in purpose-built rental buildings, like seniors buildings, force the landlord to live in the unit for a year and require the owner to use a new web portal to generate eviction notices. 

If passed, the laws will also prohibit landlords from increasing rent just because a child has been added to a household, even if the tenancy agreement says rent will increase when there’s a new occupant. 

The government is also promising to clarify the criteria for evicting problematic tenants and “flexibility” in addressing those cases.

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The government says action is also being taken to resolve rental disputes faster, with wait times at the Residential Tenancy Branch reduced from 10.5 weeks in February 2023 to five weeks this February. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press