The provincial government has set the maximum allowable rent increase for 2024 at 3.5 per cent, which is below the inflation rate.
In a statement, the B.C. government said the rent cap is “well below” the 12-month average inflation rate of 5.6 per cent and applies to rent increases with an effective date on or after Jan. 1, 2024.
Any landlords wanting to increase rent must provide three month’s notice to tenants and rent can only be increased once every 12 months.
“Across the country, costs have been increasing — especially for housing — at a rate that’s unsustainable for many people,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing, in a statement. “We know that’s the case for both landlords and renters, and that’s why we’ve found a balance to protect renters while helping to keep rental units on the market.”
Before 2018, the annual allowable rent increase was based on the inflation rate plus two per cent.
However, following a recommendation by the Rental Housing Task Force, the rent increase was reduced to just the inflation rate.
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Then, during COVID-19, a rent increase freeze was put in place and in 2023, the province capped rent increases at two per cent, well below the 5.4 per cent inflation rate that would have otherwise applied.
“With renters facing a possible rent increase of almost 6 per cent, the government listened to the voice of renters and acted, and I’m so glad they have,” said Spencer Chandra Herbert, the premier’s special liaison for renters, former chair of the Rental Housing Task Force, and MLA for Vancouver-West End, in a statement. “We also know people renting out homes are facing increased costs and want to make sure they continue to make places available for long-term renters.”
The government said as inflation returns to normal levels, it intends to return to an annual rent increase that is tied to B.C.’s Consumer Price Index.