If you want to be one of the first to share rental industry updates, policy changes, and RTB announcements, sign up for LandlordBC today! When we become a member of LandlordBC, we can help you mitigate your risks as a rental housing provider – by providing education, valuable information and advocacy services to the rental housing industry in British Columbia. Geographic rent increase: For years, landlords were allowed to request an additional rent increase if the rent of a rental unit was significantly lower than that of other similar units in the same geographic area. Fortunately, RTR-GmbH has now been modified to eliminate geographical rent increases. If your landlord collects the increased amount between December 1, 2020 and July 10, 2021, you can deduct the additional amount from future rent payments. The maximum allowable rent increase is defined as the average percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for all items in British Columbia within 12 months ending in July and the last available time for the calendar year for which a rent increase takes effect. If your landlord uses the appropriate Notice of Rent Increase form, but gives you less than three full months` notice, section 42(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act (LRA) states that you can continue to pay your current rent until the correct time limit expires. For example, if you usually pay the rent on the first of the month and your landlord gives you notice of the rent increase on March 1 (or later that month), you won`t have to start paying the increase until July 1. Although it may seem like four months, the RTA counts it as three. With the delivery of the notice of termination on 1. March, your landlord has excluded March from the three-month notice period. To avoid misunderstandings with your landlord, it may be a good idea to write them down and explain the law to make sure they`re not trying to end your tenancy for unpaid rent. If you want to move someone into your rental unit, you should check your lease first. Your landlord can increase your rent for other residents, but only if your agreement sets out how much.

If your lease does not include such a clause, your landlord cannot legally increase your rent when an additional resident moves in. See sections 13 and 40 of the Tenancies Act (LRA) for more information. If you have received a notice that your rent is expected to increase on December 1, 2020, you will not pay the increased amount. Continue to pay your current rent before the increase until July 10, 2021. Rents for non-profit and co-operative housing projects will not be frozen with the change, nor will commercial rents. This change means that any rent increase made and received between December 2019 and August 2020 will take effect on December 1, 2020. Use the table below to determine when your rent increase is considered effective. Remember to always use the approved rent increase for residential leases when offering a rent increase. The 1.4% rent increase authorized in 2021 may not take effect until July 10, 2021. A tenant does not have to pay an increase greater than the amount allowed by law.

Instead, the tenant can give the landlord documents indicating the eligible amount, or request a dispute resolution and request an order from the landlord to comply with the law, until the increase has been granted through dispute resolution. “We know a lot of it was motivated because (some landlords) want to defer a tenant for the long term and raise the rent and make money. Most homeowners don`t. The owners also told us that they want this practice to stop because it gives them a bad reputation. For example, if a rent increase takes effect in 2021, the maximum allowable rent increase will be the average percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for all British Columbia items within 12 months ending in July 2020. In the news release, the ministry offered the following to explain how the eligible inflation-based increase occurred: The notices of rent increase served in December 2019 would have had an effective date of April 1, 2020. At the end of March, a ministerial decree delayed these increases and all future increases until the end of the province`s state of emergency. By amending the Housing Rental Code, this new effective date has been changed from the end of the state of emergency to December 1, 2020. B.C. Rent laws set limits for annual rent increases. Since the rent freeze has been extended until December 31, 2021, rent increase notices that came into effect at any time in 2021 are not legal.

Rents can only be increased once a year. Prior to 2018, B.C owners were able to increase the established inflation rate by two percent, but no more. The freeze on rent increases has been extended until July 10, 2021. Landlords cannot combine rent increases in 2020 and rent increases in 2021. The maximum amount of the rent increase in 2021 cannot exceed 1.4%. Landlords cannot make a rent increase retroactively. If a landlord has not made a rent increase in the previous year or a rent increase that is less than the legally authorized amount, they will not be able to apply a rent increase later to catch up. The tenant can deduct any overpayments from future rent – only if the tenant has already paid an increase in excess of the legal amount. The tenant must attach a note to the rent to explain the reason for the non-payment of the amount requested by the landlord. A rent increase for a tenant with a fixed-term contract (lease) who lives in a rental unit is limited to the maximum annual amount allowed and can only be increased once every 12 months.

The rent can no longer be increased beyond this amount between leases with the same tenant. Find out what the different types of rent increases entail: “It means British Columbians will know that their rent can`t go up this year,” said NDP MP Spencer Chandra Herbert, who recently led a task force on rent rules. This makes life more affordable and allows people to plan ahead. “Certain subsidized rental units whose rent is linked to income may be exempt from the LRA`s rent increase rules. If you live in subsidized rental housing, check with your housing provider about the rent increase rules that apply to you. See section 2 of RTR-GmbH for more information. The landlord cannot increase the rent until 12 months after the date the existing rent was determined with the existing tenant(s) or 12 months after the date of the last legal rent increase, even if there is a new landlord or tenant through an assignment. News of the limited inflation-related increase appeared in a September 8 press release from the Ministry of the Attorney General and Responsible for Housing. Section 42 of the Tenancies Act states that landlords must submit an approved “Notice of Rent Increase” form three full months before a rent increase comes into effect.

For example, if you receive proper notice on April 5, the three full months credited to the notice period are May, June, and July, which means the rent increase will be april 1. The month of August takes effect (provided you pay the rent on the first of the month). If your landlord doesn`t increase your rent or increase it less than the percentages allowed for a 12-month period, they can`t increase a future rent increase to make up the difference. If you choose the first option, be sure to make it clear to your landlord that you have the right to withhold rent in accordance with section 43 of the Housing Tenancies Act. See the example of a letter from TRAC, Illegal Rent Increase. Subsidized housing, whose rent is linked to the tenant`s income, is not subject to rent increase laws. In these cases, the Residential Tenancies Branch does not have the authority to make decisions regarding rent increases. Tenants who have questions about rent increases for subsidized housing should discuss this with the housing provider. Q: I made a rent increase in March 2020, which is expected to take effect on July 1, 2020. Do I have to pay another rent increase for the December 1 effective date? The province introduced a rent freeze during the pandemic, which expires on December 31, 2021.

If you overpaid rent because your landlord gave you an illegal rent increase, you have two options: the B.C.