Between-tenant rent controls focus of new demands from major BC union

A major Metro Vancouver union has issued a call for tighter rent controls in the province, something it says is necessary for workers to be able to live within a reasonable distance of their workplace.

The BC General Employees Union wants the provincial government to limit how much a landlord can increase rent for a unit when one tenant leaves and another moves in.

Currently, BC only has rent controls for continuing tenancies — but as high interest rates make mortgages skyrocket, more tenants say they’re being served landlord-use evictions that force them into the red-hot rental market.

“Vacancy control would limit rent increases between tenants, which is a major cause of unfair evictions and displacement,” BCGEU Vice-President Kari Michaels said in a news release. “In many cases landlords make homes so unliveable that occupants have no choice but to leave, all so the landlord can convert the same $900-a-month suite into a $2,400-a-month one.”

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Unchecked rent increases between tenancies make things harder for everyone, Michaels argues, including people looking to relocate for a new job.

“It’s a common-sense protection that we need right now to stem the loss of affordable market rentals.”

Tenants staying in their homes this year could see a 3.5% rent increase. But tenants who’ve been evicted tell Daily Hive they’re looking at paying 1.5 times or double their previous rent for an equivalent unit — after staying in a place for as little as three years.

Asking rents have risen so quickly in Vancouver in recent years that rents for vacant apartments are now 43% higher than rents at places where tenants already live, according to data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Average asking rents for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver now hover just below $3,000.

The BCGEU hopes its proposal will help combat the housing crisis and make life easier for working British Columbians.

“Ultimately, we are striving for an environment where the corporate landlords and developers cannot own, flip, and sell more people in BC out of their homes,” Michaels said.