Doug Ward
Sun
VANCOUVER – Alarm is growing among politicians and tenants in Vancouver‘s West End that the diverse downtown neighbourhood could lose its affordability and identity.
Lorne Mayencourt, the MLA for Vancouver-Burrard, said rental stock in the West End is being bought up by large developers intent on maximum profit. Mayencourt fears these property owners will convert their apartment buildings into condominiums that would be unaffordable to people now living there.
“We are looking at a significant part of the rental stock in the West End being at risk,” Mayencourt said last week.
“And once that balance is gone, you’ll see a real shift in who lives in the downtown core.”
The B.C. Liberal MLA said the City of Vancouver should consider bylaws that would penalize developers who convert rental units into condos.
Tenants rights activists in the West End say affordability is already an issue with existing rental units as landlords use loopholes in tenancy legislation to drive up apartment rents.
“I think the face of the West End could change if we don’t get a handle on this,” said Christine Ackermann, who lives in an apartment on Barclay Street.
Landlords are using two legal loopholes to jack up rents, said Ackermann.
Under the Residential Tenancy Act, landlords can only increase rents of continuing tenants by a certain amount each year — 3.7 per cent in 2008.
But one loophole allows landlords to evict tenants, do renovations and then increase the rent for the renovated units.
A B.C. Court of Appeal decision last year ruled that landlords can’t kick renters out for renovations without proving the vacancies are necessary.
But many landlords continue to evict tenants, perform some renovations and then raise the rents significantly, said Ackermann.
She cited her own experience of being told by her landlord, Hollyburn Group, that she had to vacate her apartment because of a suite renovation.
After negotiations, Ackermann agreed to pay an additional $65 a month rent, plus the regular annual increase, to avoid being evicted.
The renovation was never carried out, she added.
A group called Renters at Risk wants the provincial government to place a “right-of-first refusal” clause in the tenancy act, like one that exists in Ontario. The clause gives tenants who have an on-going lease the option of returning to their suite at the same rent once renovations are complete.
Another loophole being used by landlords is one that allows them to increase rents to the market level in their geographic area.
The problem in the West End, said Sharon Isaak, a member of Renters at Risk, is that a few landlords, including Hollyburn, own several apartment buildings and so can control the market rent for the area.
Hollyburn could not be reached for comment.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008