No renter's safe: Even BC households earning $100,000+ are facing evictions

A new survey has found that despite respondents earning over $100,000 in a household, it does not make them immune to receiving a dreaded eviction notice. 

The British Columbia Eviction Survey was conducted by the First United Church Community Ministry Society, which provides services and support to vulnerable populations in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. Nearly 700 responses were collected between June 2022 and September 2023. 

Of those responses, First United said it found an unexpected response. 

“We asked respondents for their household income and used $100,000+ as the highest specified category because we did not expect to see evictions for households above this income,” it said. 

However, 13.5% of respondents who said they were evicted reported a household income of $100,000 or more. This income bracket ranked as the third-most likely group to have received an eviction notice.

First United

According to the survey, households earning between $10,000 and $19,999 were most likely to report evictions (20%). The second-most likely, by 15%, were those earning $20,000 to $29,999 yearly. 

“We found that having a higher income reduces the risk, but does not provide complete protection from the harshest impacts of eviction,” First United said. 

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If British Columbians earn less than $10,000 per year or more than $100,000 a year, First United found that eviction poses a risk to the lowest-income families and even middle-income and working families across the income spectrum. 

Additionally, the organization found that the “nonpayment of rent” is not the main reason for reported evictions. 

A majority of folks were given “landlord’s use” as the reason for eviction. 

“In other words, because eviction is happening in BC primarily due to no-fault evictions such as ‘landlord’s use’ and not nonpayment of rent, it makes sense that having a higher income would not prevent eviction,” the group said. 

First United

First United also highlighted that homelessness after eviction was prevalent in all income groups. So even if people made more than $100,000, it did not offer them total protection from homelessness after being evicted. 

“In the present housing crisis, we have documented homelessness, displacement, and extreme rent increases following eviction for tenants in all of the income brackets,” First United said. 

First United

First United

The data, of course, shows a complex picture, and the proportion of people who became homeless after eviction was greater for the lowest income groups, and generally, if a household was earning a higher income, the risk of homelessness declined.

The group’s BC Evictions Map shows rent increases after eviction throughout the province in both rural and urban areas. Check it out in detail here. 

First United BC Evictions Map

In addition to its report, First United has put out a list of recommendations: 

• Reducing unnecessary and bad-faith evictions 
• Proportionality and making eviction a last resort
• Improving procedural fairness and appeal rights
• Protecting tenants from illegal conduct
• Preventing rent gouging and stabilizing rent 
• Diversity and inclusion in housing