As you all know, we enjoy a fabulous suite Downtown. We settled in after seeing 15 other properties and we think we have been having a pretty fair rent considering the size of the suite and the building we are in.
Now, unfortunately for us the previous owner had to sell the suite at the end year and the new owners have now taken possession. Fortunately they purchased the suite as an investment and have no plan of using it themselves. So they are planning to keep renting it out and they would love us to stay.
We would of course love to stay as well, however there is a limit to what we are ready to pay even for a suite as wonderful as this is. Now, we don't know how much the new owners will be asking as the new rent, but the rental agency that they have chosen to use has been talking about "going market price" which they think would be 25-40% more than what we are currently paying.
I realize that the rental agency gets a piece of the rent and so wants to maximize it, but I seriously question this assessment based on what we know of the market and several other factors, but this is what they might be suggesting the new owners to ask.
We will see how that goes, but I am curious to know if there is any tenancy law or act in B.C. that protects from this kind of excessive rent increase? I am aware there being a law preventing increasing the rent year-over-year by only 2% (or so) during an ongoing tenancy, but how about when our current rental agreement is going to end and we need to be signing a brand new one with a new owner?
Is there any protection against rent hike of 25-40% or is the rent purely up to what the landlord and tenant happen to agree on?
If nothing will protect us from such a rent hike, it might be that you won't be seeing more Downtown photos from above as we have to move elsewhere at the end of April. That will be a shame, but everyone has their max budget to follow.
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