BC Government introduces greater flexibility in renting

It's complicated is more than the name of the movie in which Meryl Streep figures out where her heart lies.

It is also the real-life dilemma that will soon be facing prospective strata-property owners, as they try to decide whether to buy a home in a new building where there may be no rental restrictions or one that was built before Jan. 1, 2010 and already has restrictions in place or could have at any time.

When the government amended the Strata Property Act last year, one of the things it changed was the ability of new strata corporations to pass bylaws that prevent owners from renting their units.

Until this year, a strata corporation could make a rule forbidding owners from renting their units to anyone other than family members.

Even if you bought into a building where rentals had once been allowed, that could change almost overnight by a three-quarter vote of strata owners.

It left some investors hanging and complaining.

When Housing Minister Rich Coleman introduced the amendment in the Legislature last fall, he spoke to that.

"One of the biggest complaints we got, frankly -- I heard from people who were Asian investors who bought units in Vancouver on the basis that they thought they could rent them out, that they could have some cash flow towards their investments, which they were going to hold. After they bought them, along came a strata corporation and said: 'Those rentals are no longer allowed here.'"

Under the new law -- which applies only to developments filed after Jan. 1, 2010 -- developers can specify in their rental disclosure statement how many units in a building can be rented and for how long. And no strata corporation can change it.

Martha Lewis likes that certainty.

She's the executive director of the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre and supports the change because it should provide some badly needed rental housing.

As Lewis bluntly puts it, "owners don't like tenants. Even owners who used to be tenants don't like tenants."

Having more homes available for rent isn't going to be a panacea for renters, because rents in strata buildings tend to be about 30 per cent higher than in rental-specific buildings.

However, Lorraine Copas at the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. agrees strata units are still an important source of supply.

So this change should be good for investors and renters.

What about owners who are not investors? And do owners simply not like renters?

White Rock lawyer Adrienne Murray, who specializes in strata law, says 'there's lots of good reasons why owners want to restrict tenants and it's not just because they don't like tenants."

Investors often have a different perspective, she points out. They may not be as concerned about having a large contingency reserve fund, they're not there to participate on strata council, and if they can get the same rent whether the lobby is painted or not, why would they want to spend money upgrading?

But the bottom line? Murray says the change is "not good or bad, it's just going to change the factors that buyers have to consider and what realtors have to be aware of."

Heidi Marshall, spokesperson for the Condominium Home Owners Association, which supported the change, echoes that.

She says people looking to buy into a new building will "need to closely review the rental disclosure statement before they purchase to understand if and how a rental bylaw could someday apply."

(prepared by Suzanne Morphet/Vancouver Sun)