Vancouver's mayor wants the provincial government to overhaul rental legislation as the city grapples with an affordable housing crisis, low vacancy rates and renovictions.

Gregor Robertson has put forward a motion to council to review the Residential Tenancy Act and identify potential changes to increase resources and strengthen protections for renters and low-income earners.

Renters make up more than half of all Vancouver households, according to the motion, and a lack of new rental housing built in the 1990s and 2000s has left aging buildings as the main source of affordable housing in Vancouver.

This has been leading to renovations and the dislocation of renters. Also known as renovictions, this is a shady tactic used by a few landlords to kick out renters under the guise of renovating the suites so they can raise the rent. The trend began in 2007 in the West End, with landlords claiming they needed to refit the whole building with carpet or lighting fixtures to force out long-term tenants.

This trend is a particular problem for seniors on fixed incomes, who — once turfed from their homes — are left scrambling to find an affordable apartment in a city where vacancy rates for renters are significantly low.

Vacancy rates are as low as 0.7 per cent in some areas, particularly the West End, where a one-bedroom apartment rents for an average of $1,198, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

"There have been examples of landlords who knowingly disobey city bylaws and the Rental Tenancy Act, such as evicting tenants for short-term stays, who face no penalty for their actions," the motion states.

The city is advocating for better protection for renters, a full-time residential tenancy office in Vancouver, and specific protections for tenants in single room occupancy buildings. The motion also asks the Renters Advisory Committee to complete its recommendations for council by the end of June. The motion will be voted on at the next council meeting on Tuesday.

"I wish this conversation was happening at the provincial level," said Vancouver-West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, a longtime advocate for renters. "Hopefully this will spark that conversation."

While renovictions continue in Vancouver, albeit more sporadic than the mass evictions that were happening a few years ago, he said the problem has also spread to other cities in the province.

Renovictions and low vacancy rates are also taking place in Kitimat and Prince Rupert (in anticipation of an LNG gold rush) and Victoria, he said.

Chandra Herbert, who is also a landlord, said he believes most landlords want to see changes to the Act because a "few bad apples" are giving the rest a bad name, and believes there should be stiffer penalties for landlords who abuse the law.

"The legislation needs to be clear. You can't just kick people out and jack up rent," he said.

David Hutniak, chief executive officer of Landlord BC, said he supports the mayor's goal of improving the Act, but he wants landlords to be consulted in any recommendations made to government.

He said he'd like to have a discussion with Robertson, and has reached out to the mayor's office.

Hutniak said while he doesn't agree with renoviction tactics, the rights of the landlord to renovate old buildings must be taken into consideration when drafting potential new laws.

"It's a major concern for responsible landlords," he said. "If there's a building and it has asbestos, they need to remove people for safety."

Some of Hutniak's recommendations include giving more notice to tenants (for example, between three and five months), helping them relocate, and right of first refusal if they want to move back into the building once the renovations are complete. He said there needs to be a discussion about what is reasonable, adding that tenants can't expect to come back after a major renovation and pay the same amount in rent.

He'd also like to see changes to the Act to encourage more construction of purpose-built rental housing.

ticrawford@vancouversun.com

with a file from Kelly Sinoski

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