Rental Housing Task Force & It’s Impact on Strata Corporations

In late 2018, the Government of BC released a report from their Rental Housing Task Force which included a number of recommendations designed to alleviate the housing crisis facing British Columbians.

You can find that report here.

Of particular interest to our clients is Recommendation #9 – that the ability for a Strata Corporation to implement rental restrictions be eliminated.  The report goes into greater detail on what this would mean, but essentially it would remove the ability for a Strata Corporation to limit or prohibit the number of rentals at their property.  Of course, such a restriction already requires a ¾ vote of the Owners to implement a bylaw to do so.

Anecdotally, we have heard from many of our clients who are upset about this recommendation and the likelihood of it finding it’s way into law.  A number of our clients have asked us what options are available to them, and while we aren’t experts on the legislative process we do know that the answer is “speak with or write to your local MLA”.  Another option is to join the Condominium Home Owners Association (http://www.choa.bc.ca) which undertakes lobbying efforts on behalf of Strata Corporations and Strata Councils.

That being said, we know that many Owners within Strata Corporations we manage would support such a legislative undertaking.  This is why we don’t take any particular position on the matter, as a company.  This is despite the fact that an elimination of rental restrictions would actually make our jobs a fair bit easier, as managing rental wait lists and dealing with hardship applications (and other related matters) consume a fair bit of time for our Property Managers.

We encourage any interested Council member or Owner to learn more about this task force’s recommendations, and to address any feedback you have directly with your local MLA.  We would also be interested in your thoughts on this issue should you wish to share them with your Property Manager or management. Needless to say the implications of such a legislative change will be far reaching and will have a significant impact on all Strata Corporations.