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Condo Smarts: Proposed rental-bylaw ban a nightmare for small stratas

Dear Tony: Our strata is a 12-unit townhouse complex in Coquitlam, built in 2002. We are deeply concerned by the government planning to remove rental-restriction bylaws from condos in B.C.
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Tony Gioventu is the executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C.

Dear Tony: Our strata is a 12-unit townhouse complex in Coquitlam, built in 2002. We are deeply concerned by the government planning to remove rental-restriction bylaws from condos in B.C.

We permit two rentals and they have been nothing but a source of chronic problems for our volunteer council. Hiring a management company to deal with the ongoing issues is simply too expensive for a small strata corporation, and with the elimination of rental bylaws, we will simply be left with more tenants and a smaller group of owners left to self-manage our corporation.

So, because the government has not planned for housing needs and local governments have allowed developers to run rampant on development with no rental commitments, the government has decided to download the problem onto the consumers who form the backbone of our economy.

Even though we are small, we still have the same duties and liabilities as a 200-unit strata a block away, but we will not have the financial resources to fight the constant tenant battles that arise. There is nothing in the legislation that compels a landlord to participate in the operation of a strata corporation, and the removal of a tenant or the enforcement of bylaws and tenancy laws is a joke.

We have discovered from the Residential Tenancy Board that as a council, we do not have standing in the landlord-tenant relationship, as we are not part of that agreement and therefore cannot evict the tenant. Considering we are and have always been a 100 per cent occupied property, how does eliminating rental bylaws solve a housing problem?

Karen M.

The government has not yet made any decision on whether to repeal or amend the legislation that would change rental bylaws for strata corporations. The task force that was struck by government has recommended the repeal of rental bylaws, and in spite of the detailed research and opposition provided, chose to proceed on an independent agenda and not acknowledge the impact this will have on strata owners and residents in B.C.

Under the Strata Property Act and the previous Condominium Act, strata corporations were permitted to adopt bylaws that either prohibited rentals or limited them to a specific number or percentage.

Family members who were the children or parents of the owner or the owner’s spouse were exempt, along with owners who provided evidence of a reasonable hardship to their strata council. Prior to Jan. 1, 2010, the first owner was exempted by a developer rental exemption, and since that date, any strata lot could be identified as exempt by the owner developer for the period listed.

As a result, developers began imposing blanket exemptions on all units in a complex for a period of usually 100 years. That made the units easier to sell, and the result is that with few exceptions, every strata corporation created since 2010 has not had rental bylaws.

As more than half the strata corporations in B.C. are fewer than 50 units, and more than 90 per cent are self-managed, it would be safe to assume that in the event rental bylaws are removed, every volunteer strata council in those properties will have to deal with additional tenancy issues in the event rental-restriction bylaws are removed.

In 2017, CHOA conducted a study of eight post-2010 buildings with no rental bylaws and eight comparable buildings that were developed prior to 2010.

The eight buildings constructed since 2010 with no rental bylaws have a vacancy rate averaging 30 per cent, with the majority of the unoccupied units being used by investors or for short-term vacation rentals.

Clearly, rentals play no role in the matter of occupancy of these buildings, due largely to the value of these units and the cost of making rentals feasible.

In the eight buildings that were constructed prior to 2010, most with rental-bylaw limits, not restrictions, the vacancy rate is below two per cent, most of which was accounted for by transitional ownership. This is consistent across the province.

How would removing rental bylaws increase rental inventory in an already extremely low vacancy?

Before the government makes a decision on terminating rental bylaws, it is essential that they provide assurances to the public about how the removal of rental bylaws will affect occupancy and provide more rental housing, and how the change in legislation will not create an operational nightmare for smaller strata corporations.

There is no evidence that rental bylaws reduce rental housing availability to the public when properties with rental bylaws already have the lowest vacancy rates in the province.

The changes to the legislation will have a dramatic effect on property use, open all properties to speculators, investors and developers, especially in retirement communities that are also vacation resorts, affecting senior communities, contrary to the government policy of keeping seniors in their own housing as long as possible.

The argument that other provinces do not allow rental restrictions is not based on comparable legislation.

No other province permits the strata titling of duplexes and small townhouse units, compelling owners to collectively manage all property.

B.C. has more than 30,000 strata corporations, and more than 22,000 of them will be affected by this change in legislation.

It is important to voice your opinion as an owner, investor and strata-council member.

Contact your local MLA and the minister responsible for the Strata Property Act: The Honourable Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing, Room 310 Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4. Send emails to:selina.robinson.mla@leg.bc.ca

 

Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association