Amendments to Residential Tenancy Act and Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act

The British Columbia government is proposing amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act and the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act to better protect renters and landlords. The key changes include:

• No rent increases above the annual allowable amount will be permitted if a tenant adds a child under 19 to their household, even if the tenancy agreement states rent will increase with new occupants.

• Landlords will be required to use a web portal to generate a notice to evict a tenant for personal use, which will help educate landlords about the required conditions and risks of bad-faith evictions.
• The new process will allow for post-eviction compliance audits and provide information to the ministry about the frequency of these types of evictions.

• Since November 2022, wait times at the Residential Tenancy Branch have been reduced by almost 54%, with the dispute stream for unpaid rent and/or utilities decreasing by more than 52% from 10.5 weeks in February 2023 to less than 5 weeks in February 2024.
• The new Money Judgment Enforcement Act, coming into force in 2025, will make it easier and less costly for people to get the money owed to them from Residential Tenancy Branch decisions.

• Increased Notice Period: The amount of notice a landlord must give a tenant when ending a tenancy for personal occupancy will be increased.
• Longer Occupancy Requirement: The amount of time a landlord must occupy a rental unit after ending a tenancy for personal occupancy will be increased from 6 months to 12 months.
• Longer Dispute Period: The amount of time a tenant has to dispute a notice to end tenancy will be increased from 15 days to 30 days.
• Eviction Restrictions: Evictions for personal use will be prohibited in purpose-built rental buildings with five or more units, and evictions for the conversion of rental units to specific non-residential uses will also be prohibited.