Philip Davies 7/10/26 Philip Davies 7/10/26

Government buying condos. How will it affect the rental market?

With the Provincial and Federal government combining to purchase unsold condos in BC how is this going to affect the rental market. This is an unknown question we may not be able to answer for many years. Many of these units would have been sold or rented at lower prices in the current sales/rental market as prices are declining. Now that these units are not part of the market place it will slow down the decline in prices, and it may not. It will depend on how the government uses these properties. Who will they rent or sell the units to?.

If the government uses them for lower income housing it may not affect the rental or sales market very much. It will take a long time for the government to fill these units with renters. The people they will rent these units to are not likely applying to the majority of rental properties currently for rent.

If they are units in condo buildings the tenants will be subject to the strata building bylaws. This may be a challenge for the government to manage on an ongoing basis. Government agencies are not set up to manage these types of properties long term. Who in the government is going to respond to and pay the bylaw infraction fines tenants incurr?

The bylaw infraction process is hard to navigate for the average property owner of a rental property. A government trying to manage thousands of them could be very interesting.

Maybe the government will hire outside property managers to manage these units on their behalf, which might be the best case scenario. The problem with this is the management company will want a fee that is profitable to them, I don’t see companies lining up to participate in this option if offered. This will increase the cost of owning these units.

The government may be able to manage them for about five years before they become too difficult and too costly to justify.

There are still a lot of new products entering the sales and rental markets and many already built products entering the sales and rental market everyday. We anticipate they will eventually turn around and sell the units when the market increases, taking the profits as any owner would. This may not be a bad thing as then they could use the money to build more purpose built rental properties for lower income families which is what is needed.

Buying these condos does affect in many ways the sales and rental market as it takes product out of the market. In a round about why this is going to slow the decrease in sales and rental prices which in turn increases the cost of housing to all. That is not the outcome the government is trying to achieve by purchasing these units. I am not sure I would call it a bailout, though I do believe there was some influence from the developers to have this happen even when they are saying differently. Many developers have come out to say they didn’t ask for this solution. If they didn’t ask for it then don’t sell the units to the government.

I could be wrong but I don’t think the government can force them to sell the units to the government. I would like to see some developers refuse to sell their units to the government in this situation. I am not holding my breath for that to happen.

Time is the greatest test of decision making and in this case we will only know in five to ten years if this was a good decision or not. I am predicting it is the wrong thing to do long term.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 7/6/26 Philip Davies 7/6/26

Short Term Rentals?

In the past landlords often rented to student tenants by signing an eight month lease the length of the school year and the students would go home for the summer.

We still hear of landlords doing these short term agreements or wanting to have time limited agreements where the tenant vacates the property. These types of tenancies are illegal in BC today and a tenancy agreement with a clause to vacate requires the owner move back into the property.

A landlord is allowed to have a fixed term tenancy agreement. Any fixed term agreement must end in one of two ways. On the standard BC tenancy agreement there is a section that the landlord must indicate how the fixed term tenancy expires. If the landlord selects box C indicating it is a fixed term they then must identify either box D which indicates the tenancy will continue on a month to month basis, or they select box E which requires the tenant to vacate the rental unit.

What many landlords fail to understand is that if they select box E it means a specified party must move into the unit. In this circumstance the specified person is identified in section 49 of the tenancy act, which states a family member, meaning the owner’s parents, spouse or children of the parents or spouse must occupy the unit. This is called personal use of the rental property.

This part of the act was changed in 2017 yet we continue to hear landlords who are signing tenancy agreements for specified terms with an expectation for the tenant to vacate the unit in six, eight or twelve months. We are often asked if we can find a tenant to meet these standards and clients are surprised when we inform them this is not legal in BC. If you create a tenancy agreement with this clause and the tenant elects to stay past the date you were expecting them to vacate the property, the landlord has no right to evict them.

It is these situations that have landlords ending up at the RTB in a hearing and the tenant being awarded the equivalent of a year’s rent to compensate them for illegally vacating them from the property. We recommend landlords use the standard BC tenancy agreement then have a lease addendum along with the standard agreement. Using the standard agreement gives both landlords and tenants the ability to clearly understand what the expectations are for the property. Using the BC form also means landlords are meeting the requirements of a tenancy agreement in BC.

If you are unsure of the laws for renting your property we encourage you to hire a professional to assist you with managing your property.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 6/12/26 Philip Davies 6/12/26

Do rent controls limit development?

The other day I was listening to a podcast, the wealthy Barber in fact speaking to an economist about the economy. A narrative that was brought up was that rent controls reduce and restrict development.

We hear this all the time from developers and landlords when they are restricted in their ability to increase the rents to current market rates. It is always reported as studies show that rent controls restrict development of property which in turn reduces the supply of the product. It was stated during the podcast that there are very few housing starts in Vancouver due to many factors including these rent controls. It is hard to compare two very different cities and regions when they build differently. Vancouver and the lower mainland build up, out of need which increases costs and time to build. I hear a comparison that Alberta doesn’t have restrictions so they build more. They also build less towers and more single family homes as does Ontario. Those properties are easier to start and take less time to build.

A quick google search shows that currently Calgary has fewer housing starts planned for 2026 than they did for 2025. Wait what, why is that? Based on the rent control issues they should be building all the time should they not? Why are they building less? The reality is there is only one factor that creates more development, how the economy is performing.

The current Liberal government wants to build more housing to make it more affordable, yet the developers are telling them sorry, right now we are not able to make it work and across the country are slowing down development. This is why there is great pressure on the development charges to be reduced to help developers build more product.

When the economy is going well developers will build and when it slows down developers stop building. We could remove all the tenancy laws allowing landlords to do anything they want with their properties, if there is no economy to support it they will not build. If you removed all the tenancy laws there would be no tenants.

We are experiencing this in Vancouver at the moment, rents are declining due to an over supply of product. We could build more housing now and it would sit vacant because there are not enough people to occupy the units. It is hard to build at a steady pace to meet all the needs of a growing city as it never grows at one pace. These ups and downs have occurred throughout history and will continue in the future.

I agree that rent controls can be restrictive and limit a landlord’s ability to manage their properties. What rent controls do for society is provide a balance of cost for tenants.

I wonder what the landlord would think if the banks had the same power to take back a property like the landlord’s demand when rent is not paid. If banks could sign one year mortgages and after that year raise it to any price they want nobody would buy a home.

Would they be demanding controls on what the banks are allowed to do in those instances? The answer is yes, which is why we have controls on banks ability to repossess a home when a mortgage payment is missed. It is not an easy process, it takes time and gives the home owner the chance to make amends.

During covid when rents were increasing rapidly tenant advocate groups were out in force demanding change to the system to protect tenants from escalating costs. Now that the table has turned and rents are declining they don’t really have much of an argument which is why they are not as vocal at this time. It is hard to argue that landlords should not be able to change the rent during tenancies when the rents are declining.

Every industry has regulations it must manage under to work in that industry. Hotels, taxis, bars and restaurants would all love more control over how they manage their business. Without rules and regulations we succumb to the whims of the few who have all the power. It is a difficult balance to obtain and will never be perfect. One side will always be asking for more. Our experience is that many landlords enter the business without understanding how the business works, they don’t know the laws. In any industry if you are unaware of the rules and regulations you must adhere to you are not going to be successful.

We think that some rent controls are a good thing for the industry as a whole. There can always be improvements from the tenant side and the landlord’s perspective. The majority of the rent controls in BC have been created due to tenant complaints about how landlords have managed the system in the past. Governments have felt the need to step in and change the law to protect the party with less power in the transaction.

Rent controls or restrictions are not preventing development, the economy is the only factor that encourages or slows development.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 5/29/26 Philip Davies 5/29/26

Performing inspections

Is it important to perform inspections of the rental property?.

Yes it is a key part of managing the rental property. It’s also a key part of the screening of tenants as well. Performing an inspection helps the landlord with communication with the tenants. It also keeps the landlord up to date with the condition of the property during the tenancy. It provides the tenant with an opportunity to communicate issues to the landlord about the property. It helps the two way communication process.

During inspection the landlord should be looking at various issues at the property. We look to confirm that only the parties on the tenancy agreement are living at the unit. We confirm tenants have not obtained a pet without permission. We are looking at items that might need future repairs to see if they can be repaired before they are a larger issue.

Confirming the people residing in the unit is very important. You are looking at the house to see if there is evidence of different parties reading in the unit. Landlords have the right to vett the people who rent their property. If you rent to two people and one moves out and another moves in without your references checks this could be an issue. Who is the new person and what is their background? They are not on the tenancy agreement and technically have no right to the tenancy unless the landlord knows they are at the unit and chooses not to do anything about it. When a landlord identifies an issue at the property they must choose to deal with it in a specified manner. If there is a new unapproved tenant, this would be considered subletting and could be grounds for terminating the agreement. If the landlord fails to enforce this part of the agreement and do anything you could be perceived as granting this change to the tenancy agreement. If a year later they are having issues with the new tenant they will be hard pressed to validate actions to vacate the person as they were aware for a year before taking action on the issue.

This is the same with pets. We often hear from landlords that their tenant now has a pet. When we ask what they did about it they respond with nothing. If you take no actions you are granting the pet at the tenancy. In both pets and new tenants you have options. These include having the new tenant apply and you perform background checks on them, and the two tenants sign a new lease. You can enforce the tenancy agreement requiring the tenants to vacate the unit as you did not approve this change. You can do nothing and this over time would grant the tenant permission to reside there.

The same is with a pet, you can do nothing which is perceived as granting the tenant permission to have the pet. You can enforce the tenancy agreement no pet clause which requires them to vacate the pet or vacate the property. If the landlord decides to allow the pet, the proper process is to perform another condition inspection report of the property before the pet arrives to clearly identify what the unit looks like at that time. Landlords are also permitted at this time to collect the pet deposit.

The important part of this issue is to make a decision and communicate the decision to the tenants. Then both parties can move forward with what decision was made.

When we indicate that we are performing inspections to prospective applicants they will decide to proceed or they will elect to look elsewhere. If they are unwilling to allow you to enter the unit regularly they are not quality tenants. People who have nothing to hide have no issues with the landlord accessing the unit for the inspections.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com

Philip Davies 5/22/26 Philip Davies 5/22/26

Does the decline in the Market help Purpose built properties or individual owners more?

In the recent past the governments have pushed to build purpose built rental properties in the Vancouver Market under the argument we don’t have enough rental properties. Prior to this individual owned product was used as the majority of the rental stock in BC especially the lower mainland. During covid housing prices increased due to many people moving to locations further away from work, which decreased the rental stock in the market.

The sales and rental market have both slowed and we are now experiencing an oversupply of rental properties versus the number of tenants in the market. How is the over supply going to affect the small landlords compared to the rental building landlords. It is declining the prices in the entire rental market.

The newer rental buildings in the market have been built with many amenities similar to condo buildings. Our question is will these buildings be able to sustain the quality of the product when they are experiencing multiple vacancies in the buildings. We are seeing many purpose built rental buildings with multiple listings for vacant units. The market continues to add new rental products to the market increasing the supply during a slow demanding market.

The difference witht the individual owner and the building owners is that the individual owner has the option to sell the unit and remove it from the market. The building owner can’t do that: they must adjust their pricing and or marketing tactics to attract new tenants. We were seeing one month free. We are now seeing multiple months of free rent being offered from buildings who are trying to keep the rent at a higher advertised rate. The individual landlord had more flexibility to reduce the rent to meet the market demanded price. If the building rents a unit this month and then lowers the rent the next month to a newer tenant it often causes those tenants to move, sometimes early.

We anticipate we will see some rental buildings trying to adjust their experience by reducing the services offered to new tenants and maybe close amenities in the building to all due to the revenues being insufficient to upkeep the product. For these reasons we think the rental market of the next few years is going to be harder on the rental buildings than it will be on the indifvidual owner investor.

Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com