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Vancouver mayor urges revision of rental legislation in B.C. province

Xinhua, March 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gregor Robertson, mayor of Vancouver in west Canada, has urged the government of British Columbia to change rental legislation as the city grappled with an affordable housing crisis and low vacancy rates.

In a motion put forward to the city council on Thursday to review the Residential Tenancy Act, the mayor hoped to see some changes to increase resources and strengthen protections for renters and low-income earners.

Robertson was advocating for better protection for renters, a full-time residential tenancy office in Vancouver, and specific protections for tenants in single room occupancy buildings.

In the past, some landlords used the renovictions to kick out renters under the guise of renovating the suites so they can raise the rent. This is a particular problem for seniors on fixed incomes, who, when forced to move out of the renting apartment, are left scrambling to find an affordable apartment as the vacancy rates for renters in the city are quite low.

Renters make up more than half of all Vancouver households, according to the motion, and a lack of new rental housing built in the 1990s and 2000s has left aging buildings as the main source of affordable housing in Vancouver.

"There have been examples of landlords who knowingly disobey city bylaws and the Rental Tenancy Act, such as evicting tenants for short-term stays, who face no penalty for their actions," the motion stated. Endite