1 of 1 2 of 1

The price of evicting tenants in Vancouver is likely going up.

Increased compensation for renters getting cleared out for new developments is provided in a report included in the agenda of city council Tuesday (June 11).

Under the new scale, some long-term tenants may get the equivalent of up two years’ rent.

This is not going to hurt the development industry, according to the staff report.

“During consultation with the development industry, these additional costs were not flagged as a significant issue as in some cases applicants are already providing higher compensation to tenants than what is currently required,” Dan Garrison, assistant director of housing policy, wrote.

Compensation depends of length of tenancy at market rental housing.

For renters of one to five years, current compensation is two months’ rent. Under the proposed scale, this doubles to four months’ rent.

Tenants of five to 10 years get three months’ rent under the current policy. The new one proposes five months’ rent.

Renters of 10 to 20 years are entitled to four months’ rent under existing policy. The proposed scale increases that to six months’ rent.

Under current policy, renters of more than 20 years get six months’ rent.

The new scale doubles the said rate to 12 months’ rent for those of 20 to 30 years of tenancy. Renters of 30 to 40 years will get 18 months’ rent. Finally, those who have been renting for more than 40 years get 24 months’ rent.

According to Garrison’s report, the new compensation scale is based on advice from “experienced” relocation specialists.

“Longer term tenants are generally more affected by displacement due to having lower rents compared to current market,” Garrison wrote. “Additional months’ rent for longer-term tenants are required to ensure adequate compensation to reflect current market conditions.”

Although this means extra money out of the pockets of developers, the added costs are not significant.

“For market developments, these costs are typically not material to the overall redevelopment costs, and can be reasonably estimated by the applicant prior to application,” Garrison noted.