Rules needed to keep rentals cool amid soaring temperatures

Stokkete/Shutterstock

Housing advocates in BC are pleading with governments to set a maximum temperature for rental homes, especially as hotter summer days put the most vulnerable populations at risk.

Metro Vancouver is finally nearing the end of a prolonged heatwave, resulting in temperatures soaring up to 34°C in some parts of the region.

Once again this summer, locals are doing their best to stay cool. However, advocates like Douglas King — who is the executive director at Together Against Poverty Society — explain it’s a much harder task for some vulnerable people to keep out of the heat.

You might also like:

“What we have found typically is often the lowest income and most vulnerable in our population have the lowest access to consistent, reliable heating and cooling systems in their housing,” he said.

In 2021, 619 British Columbians died as a result of the record-breaking heat dome, which led to an inquest and a change to BC’s emergency alert system. A majority of people who died were elderly and vulnerable people living in buildings without air conditioning.

Knowing climate change has been the cause of affecting the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme weather, King said, “We need to start building in heat protection into tenancy agreements and into the actual bylaws that regulate tendency.”

“The sad reality of climate change is the new reality,” he said.

According to the Residential Tenancy Act, each municipality sets the minimum temperature requirements for rental units, and it is the landlord’s responsibility to provide adequate heating based on said requirements.

In Vancouver, residential accommodation must be maintained at 22°C. However, there are no maximum temperatures set.

Last month, the BC government announced that — in partnership with BC Hydro and the BC Ministry of Health — air conditioners will be free for some residents.

Nearly 10,000 BC residents from vulnerable populations will be provided free air conditioners as a result of the program, which saw $10 million dollars invested into it. But because renters need a landlord’s consent to receive the air conditioners, advocates like King said it creates a barrier for tenants to utilize.

“If [the] government looks at protection from heat as a right instead of a benefit, then of course, it becomes the landlord’s obligation to provide that protection, provide the resources that are necessary for the tenant,” he explained.

“If you want to protect the most vulnerable, if you really want to ensure that the people who are most likely to die in a heat wave are protected, it has to be given to tenants as a right.”

Next BC code is underway

In a statement provided to Daily Hive, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said to address the overheating in homes amid the warmer temperatures and more frequent and severe heatwaves, the province is updating the BC Building Code “to ensure that buildings across the province are accessible, adaptable, and safe.”

Development of the next BC code is underway.

“The province is proposing that all new homes in BC provide one living space that is designed not to exceed 26°C,” the statement from Kahlon reads. “This may be achieved through passive cooling such as architectural design, consideration of building materials, insulation, and solar reflectivity. It may also result in a cooling appliance being required in many parts of the province, depending on summertime temperatures for the building location.”

Kahlon is encouraging landlords and strata corporations to consider their bylaws and tenancy agreements and “find solutions to keep people safe.”

“We are concerned about rising heat levels caused by climate change and I have asked the Ministry to review its policies around air conditioning,” he said. “The risks of extreme heat events, especially on our most vulnerable citizens, should not be overlooked.”

You might also like: