Landlords in British Columbia will soon be able to raise rents up to 3.5 per cent, according to the Province’s 2024 rent increase guideline. The rent cap is set below the 12-month average inflation rate of 5.6 per cent and applies to rent increases with an effective date on or after January 1, 2024. If landlords choose to increase rent, they must provide a full three months’ notice to tenants using the correct Notice of Rent Increase form. B.C. landlords can increase rent only 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. “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 increase was based on the inflation rate plus 2 per cent. A rent increase freeze was put in place in 2020 and 2021 to support renters during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the Province capped rent increases at 2 per cent, also 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, Premier’s Special liaison for Renters, former chair of the Rental Housing Task Force and MLA for Vancouver-West End. “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.”

According to the government’s statement, as inflation returns to normal levels in future years, it will likely return to an increase that is tied more proportionately to B.C.’s Consumer Price Index.

Read more about the new rent guidelines here: Province caps annual rent increase well below inflation | BC Gov News