Insufficient heat, hot water has Vancouver renters showering in the gym
A Vancouver woman is speaking out over a lack of heat and hot water in her apartment building, which neither her landlord nor property manager seemed keen to fix.
Lorena Andrasi told Daily Hive she and her husband deal with no heat or hot water in their unit for entire days during the winter, and they’ve had to make major changes to their daily routine.
“I would go to my gym after a workout and shower there,” she said. “It’s hard when it comes to washing dishes, like when you have oil or grease on plates. It just takes a lot more effort.”
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The couple moved into their 11-unit building in Kitsilano in Summer 2022. That winter, the hot water heater that feeds the heating system and provides warm water for the faucets broke.
Andrasi said she didn’t have heat or hot water for weeks after it stopped working in December. It was finally replaced with a smaller tank than the old one, and the property manager told her residents would have to ration their hot water.
In texts seen by Daily Hive, the property manager informed Andrasi the new tank has a 140-gallon capacity with a two-hour refilling time. A US government energy site estimates one shower takes about 20 gallons of hot water. Seven showers close together in the entire apartment building could drain the tank.
With the whole building relying on the hot water heater for heat in their units, as well as showers and dishwashing, it emptied quickly. Andrasi often waited from dawn until dusk for warmth in the winter months.
“When the temperature is really low in the apartment, it just makes it that much more difficult to take a cold shower — it was freezing,” she said. “We’re not supposed to be living like this.”
According to Andrasi, her apartment got down to 16°C during the day last winter. She heard from neighbours some of their units were even colder.
Vancouver’s Standards of Maintenance bylaw mandates lodging operators maintain room temperatures at a minimum of 20°C during the day and at least 16°C overnight. BC’s Ministry of Housing declined to comment on this story, saying it’s limited in speaking publicly during the current provincial election period.
Andrasi filed a complaint with the City of Vancouver hoping to get the problem fixed.
City of Vancouver taking landlords to court
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The City confirmed it received Andrasi’s complaint on January 15, 2024, and sent an inspector that week. It issued a Standard of Maintenance Order on January 19, requiring the property owner to fix the heating and hot water issues in the affected units.
“As the property owner failed to comply with the order, the case was referred to the City’s Prosecutor’s Office and a court date has been set for October 29,” a City spokesperson told Daily Hive. “While the property owner has taken some steps to address the issues, the actions taken have not met the City’s requirements.”
With temperatures cooling down again, Andrasi is already noticing a lack of hot water in her apartment. She wants to withhold rent but doesn’t want to get evicted. She and her husband currently pay $2,100 for their one-bedroom unit including parking, which is cheaper than most other empty units currently on the market.
“It feels very frustrating … to spend $2,100 a month and not be able to live comfortably. To wake up in the morning and be freezing, it makes it hard to go to work.”
She’s started a group chat with neighbours, where she learned the heat and hot water issues were not isolated and were being experienced by the entire building.
The building’s property management company is KS & SY Hung Holdings Ltd. The company has a business address on Sidaway Road in Richmond. It did not respond to Daily Hive’s request for comment.
Andrasi said the property manager who first showed her the unit told her the building’s owners were a couple who lived in China and left maintenance responsibilities to them.
Land title documents for the Kitsilano apartment list the owners as husband and wife Kit Shing Hung and Shuk Yin Hung. A residential address for the couple corresponds to a condo building on No. 3 Road in Richmond. The couple could not be reached for comment.
Landlords are responsible for keeping units livable
Robert Patterson, a lawyer and tenant advocate with BC’s Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC), told Daily Hive the Residential Tenancy Act prohibits landlords from terminating or restricting any essential services. Those include heat, hot water, and electricity.
Landlords are also responsible for maintaining units to a standard suitable for occupation and meeting minimum heating requirements set by local city bylaws.
If a landlord fails to provide heat or hot water, or provides it inconsistently or sporadically, tenants can apply to the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) for help, Patterson said.
Renters can ask the RTB to order landlords to compensate tenants for periods where essential services weren’t provided and can ask for permission to pay reduced rent until the issue is resolved. Withholding rent without permission from the RTB can result in eviction.
As for Andrasi, she and her husband just want to live comfortably in their home and enjoy their new city. They moved to their apartment from Ontario and say the troubles with heat and hot water were a shock coming from a colder climate to a milder one.
“It seems like there’s not much of a way out,” Andrasi said. “If we leave and go to a different apartment, we’re spending a ton of money on the new rental prices. Or if we stay here and fight this out, we’ll be very frustrated for four to five months of the year. We just feel stuck in a place we don’t want to be in.”