Real Estate is Booming ~ the Big Picture

renovictions and tenant rights  

Finally, after decades of stagnation, Lillooet real estate is moving. Not long ago there were For Sale signs on practically every third property but now the signs are few and properties are snapped up. Compared to housing prices in major centers like Kamloops, Vancouver and Whistler, Lillooet prices are still a bargain. Property assessments have climbed, sale prices are substantially higher, and many home owners are naturally happy about this.

But this upswing brings significant downsides: speculation, house flipping, offshore buyers, anonymous hedge fund buying clubs, money laundering and renovictions, all of which create a housing crisis. Since the renoviction wave which has plagued Vancouver for decades has finally reached this remote mountain hamlet, let’s talk about that first.

At a recent council meeting at the REC Center, council was asked what can be done to protect renters and the mayor replied, property is a provincial jurisdiction. This is true, but that doesn’t mean the District is powerless. Through the effective use of building code bylaw enforcement, predatory renovictions can be discouraged. When building permits are properly applied – and the work is inspected on site by qualified professionals — property owners will think twice about evicting for greed.

Vancouver’s rental problems are well documented over many years. Evicted renters discovered that so-called renovations amounted to nothing more than superficial upgrades which cost the owner very little—a lick of paint, maybe some new hallway carpet, changing out a few plumbing or lighting fixtures, and a particular emphasis on upgrading the look of the exterior and the entrance in order to give the appearance of a major upgrade that in reality didn’t happen. Then the property owner boosts the rents up 2, 3 or even 4 times what they were before.

This practice became so common that the BC government finally stepped in but only after much of the damage had already been done. A hidden danger in renovictions is that your available workforce disappears. Renters who are pushed out of affordable housing are often the same people who are employed by local businesses who typically do not pay high wages. If you oust renters, they have to move out of the area; and if you lose your pool of employable workers then businesses suffer and eventually collapse. A vicious cycle forms that ends up hollowing out the community.

What do tenants who are being renovicted need to know?

BC Housing now requires renovation projects to be approved before owners give tenants a notice to vacate. Owners must submit their plans to the government bureau first. Has your landlord done this? Has your landlord showed you evidence of the approval? If not, their eviction could be unlawful and invalid.

Tenants have rights. A useful resource is the Vancouver Tenants Union.

NEW LAW (Starting July 1, 2021): Landlords can no longer issue an eviction notice for “Renovation or Repair” directly to tenants.

In order to evict a tenant, a landlord must submit an application to the RTB with evidence that:

(1) they have necessary permits and approvals

(2) the renovations or repairs are necessary to prolong or sustain the use of the rental unit or the building in which the rental unit is located and

(3) the only reasonable way to achieve the necessary vacancy is to end the tenancy agreement.

If an RTB arbitrator determines that the landlord’s proposal for work would require “vacant possession” (the tenant moving out permanently), then the RTB will give the landlord an “Order of Possession”. This will still give tenants 4 months notice with the last month free. Tenants will still be able to dispute the eviction. Evicted tenants are given first right to rent their now-renovated vacant suite but at the new, higher rate.