VANCOUVER—Over the past two years, at least 315 people in the City of New Westminster have been “renovicted” — evicted because their landlord intends to renovate their apartment and increase the rent.

Ruth Thompson, a 74-year-old renter who lives in New Westminster, has been living under the threat of renoviction for months. Her landlord has repeatedly offered tenants a “buyout” offer of several thousand dollars if they agree to move out, but she’s so far refused. While the landlord has offered her the chance to move back in after renovations are complete, the new rent — $1,700 a month — is $1,000 more a month than her current rent and more than her pension income of $1,600.

Now New Westminster’s city council is proposing a stringent set of regulations aimed at stopping the practice, and renter advocates say they’d like to see other municipalities adopt the same measures.

“These are the most progressive bylaws a municipality has put forward yet,” said David Hendry, an organizer with the Vancouver Tenants Union who has been working with Thomspon and other tenants.

The new bylaw would protect Thompson, who moved in to her apartment building seven years ago and continues to ignore a buyout of $2,500.

“When I moved in here, I told the landlord, ‘I’m home. You’re going to have to take me out in a pine box,’” Thompson said in a recent interview.

In November, Vancouver city council heard from dozens of tenants whose landlords have evicted or tried to evict them in order to renovate and charge higher rents. Council passed a motion that directed staff to change the city’s tenant protection guidelines to make it clearer that, for most renovations, landlords can work around tenants without evicting them.

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But Hendry said the proposed New Westminster bylaw goes much further: if passed, landlords who evict tenants in order to renovate could face fines or even lose their business licence.

The New Westminster bylaw would lay out under what circumstances evictions would be considered, but would require landlords to provide temporary accommodation for tenants in those situations. Staff are recommending the city fine landlords who evict before they have building permits in place, those who don’t relocate tenants, or who attempt an “excessive rent increase.”

The public will have a chance to tell council what they think of the proposed bylaw changes on Feb. 4.

Landlords don’t believe the extra regulations are necessary, because tenants are already well-protected under provincial legislation, said David Hutniak, CEO of Landlord BC, an industry lobby group. Landlord BC’s position is building owners should not evict tenants to do renovations and repairs “simply because the owner has concluded that it would be easier or more economical to complete the work,” he added.

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While Hendry said tenants can appeal evictions to B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch, the process is stressful, takes a lot of time and preparation, and can be confusing and overwhelming, especially for vulnerable tenants. Even when an eviction is overturned, landlords can issue another eviction notice, starting the process again.

A recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling found that a landlord does not necessarily have to end a tenancy in order to renovate when the tenant is willing to accommodate the renovation. That decision, which is now under appeal, resulted in a provincial government guidance in May to the Residential Tenancy Branch. Since May, RTB arbitrators have frequently cited the guidance in decisions denying evictions.

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