BC introduces $500-million fund to protect renters

BURNABY, BC: More renters in B.C. will be protected from housing speculators and profiteers through the creation of a new $500-million Rental Protection Fund dedicated to protecting tenants and preserving affordable rental homes for decades.
The Rental Protection Fund will provide one-time capital grants to non-profit housing organizations so they can purchase affordable residential rental buildings and ownership co-operatives listed for sale to protect the renters who are living there and safeguard those rental units for the longer term.
The Rental Protection Fund will be operational in the coming months and will be financed prior to March 31, 2023.
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data, between 1991 and 2021, approximately 97,000 purpose-built rental units in B.C. were either redeveloped or converted to more expensive units.
“Increasingly, in B.C. and across Canada, older rental housing buildings are being bought by speculators and large corporations, such as real-estate investment trusts. Their business model often includes redeveloping properties so they can evict tenants, allowing the trusts to make large profits by either hiking rents or selling the units and taking much-needed rental housing off the market,” said Premier David Eby.
This fund will allow non-profits to secure older rental buildings and protect vulnerable renters from speculators who can drive up rents and evict tenants who have lived there for years. “Instead, community non-profits will now be able to work with tenants to make improvements or expand to house more people, and at the same time protect affordable housing,” he added.
Non-profit organizations will be supported in obtaining private financing so income generated by current rents will sustain the financing and operating costs of the property, minimizing the financial involvement of the Province.
A new report from BC Housing shows 2022 had the highest number of new purpose-built rental units on record. A total of 14,546 rental units were registered last year, representing a 10% increase from 2021. In 2012, BC Housing recorded fewer than 2,000 new rental units.
“Our province is building more rental housing than ever, but we must also protect what we have. It’s not acceptable for speculators to be pushing renters out of their homes,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “By protecting more affordable housing, more people can stay in their homes and build a good life in B.C.”
The fund will be managed by an external entity, the Housing Protection Fund Society, consisting of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA), Co-operative Housing Federation B.C. (CHFBC), and the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA).
“Everyone deserves to feel secure in their home,” said Spencer Chandra Herbert, MLA for Vancouver-West End, who was recently appointed as the Premier’s Liaison for Renters. “The failure to build and protect rental housing helped create the crisis we are in today. Our government is taking bold action to ensure everyone in our province has access to housing they can afford.”