What the new rental restriction law means for you

The Provincial Government’s recent announcement to remove existing rental restrictions from strata properties in BC is an initiative geared towards supplementing the rental market with more options. In short, a strata corporation’s previous ability to implement rental restrictions onto owners has been lifted, with the exception of buildings with a 55+ designation and short-term rentals, such as Air B&B.  

This means that although your bylaws may still contain the rental restriction wording, the BC Government law supersedes any previous restrictions, and you are able to rent your home if you wish. This new ruling doesn’t change other types of bylaw restrictions put onto residents of the strata, including things like pet restrictions or smoking. 

What does this mean for our Real Estate market? This will open up many more options for our clients looking to make an investment purchase, which will in turn open up vacancies, and possibly ease rental rates for tenants. The rental market has been experiencing extraordinarily low vacancy rates for several years, and hopefully this change to rental restrictions will be beneficial for buyers and renters alike.

We've been spending lots of time bringing ourselves up to speed with the new laws and regulations, and are happy to be a resource to you anytime. We'd love to hear from you if you have questions!

For more information on the change of Bill 44, click here: https://www.bcfsa.ca/about-us/news/news-release/bc-government-ends-rental-and-age-restrictions-strata-properties.