Frank Luba
Province
A group representing landlords was unhappy to hear Wednesday that government rent controls limiting private-property owners don’t necessarily apply to government.
The provincial Residential Tenancy Act limits rent increases to a maximum of 3.7 per cent a year. But Friday, the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation will debate whether to raise rents on their non-subsidized market housing by as much as 15 per cent annually.
“I think it’s ludicrous, to be honest, that there would be different rules for non-profit and private market housing,” said B.C. Apartment Owners and Managers Association CEO Marg Gordon.
Her industry’s main concern is how to pay operating and maintenance costs for rapidly aging rental-housing stock.
Metro Housing faces exactly the same situation, but 30 per cent of the units in its 52 buildings pay rent geared toward their tenants’ lower incomes. The remaining 70 per cent pay what are supposed to be market rates, but which have been kept lower.
Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs, who sits on the Metro Housing board, knows fellow members are “quite concerned” about the situation.
“We need to make sure the revenues are there to keep the buildings in decent repair,” he said. “On the other hand, there could be severe hardships for some families. I think the debate is going to be pretty intense.”
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