Rent for tenants who live on Crown land is based on the assessed value of the property -- tenants are seeing rent increases of up to 300 per cent
The BC Liberals are reiterating their calls to the NDP to take immediate action to address skyrocketing rents on Crown land.
While
the NDP has extended the rent freeze in B.C., stopping rent increases
until the end of the year, they have excluded their government from
these rules,” said BC Liberal Housing Critic Ben Stewart. “Rent for
tenants who live on Crown land is based on the assessed value of the
property and in the last year, due to increasing property values,
tenants are seeing rent increases of up to 300 per cent. These kinds of
increases would be incredibly concerning under normal circumstances, but
in the middle of a pandemic they are unimaginable.” |
The
Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations has had its
Crown land rent policy under review for years, but this has yet to
result in any changes. Meanwhile, some tenants have reported their rents
increasing by $14,000 in the past year alone. |
“Government
needs to act immediately to address this growing issue,” added Jordan
Sturdy, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky. “It is simply unfair that
people will potentially be forced from their homes by rent increases,
just because the government is their landlord. Several constituents have raised this issue with me
and it’s time for the NDP to intervene, cancel these rent increases as
they have done for other renters and allow people to remain in their
homes.” |
“My family has lived on this land for generations — I have a very strong emotional connection to it and no desire to leave, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford,” said Melanie Cochrane, a Crown land rental tenant. “I don’t understand how the government could freeze rents for everyone else but charge its own tenants thousands more in rent during a pandemic.” |
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