B.C. changes tenancy regulations to limit rent increases to match area rates
VANCOUVER — Renters in British Columbia no longer need to worry about their landlords hiking up rates to match high rents in hot neighbourhoods.
The NDP government announced it’s closing another loophole in residential tenancy and manufactured home park tenancy regulations by eliminating a clause that permitted landlords to raise rates above the allowable rental increase limit to match rents within a geographic area.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, a New Democrat member of the B.C. legislature, said the change is part of an effort to provide the 1.5 million renters in the province with more security.
“Renters have been threatened with huge rent hikes under the existing rules — that’s a scary situation for any renter,” he said in a news release.