Owners of rental properties in North Vancouver District could soon have to pay an annual licensing fee to operate their business.
Council voted unanimously May 26 to move forward with a proposed licensing framework for purpose-built rental buildings and owners of two or more rentals outside the property of their principal residence.
But members of council did express some concerns, such as that the licensing wouldn’t necessarily bring more protections for tenants, especially if inspections weren’t baked into the licensing process.
The issue will now go back to staff for further consideration, with a public input opportunity to come. No dates have yet been set.
According to a staff, a new business licence regime would impact around 850 multi-family units and 900 single-family homes, in addition to purpose-built rental buildings. At $140 per licence, total annual revenue could amount to $500,000 per year, staff said.
The scheme would target units rented for profit, not “mortgage helpers” or secondary suites. Exemptions include a property owner renting out a secondary suite and coach house; an owner renting out a secondary suite and a second residential property; and non-profits.
Under the current proposal, staff said there would be no inspections for licensing, but there could be for complaints. There would be penalties for operating without a licence, and licences could also be revoked as an enforcement tool.
Staff said the purpose of the annual fee would be to operate the licensing scheme.
Coun. Jordan Back said he had some concerns, as he wasn’t sure what problem the proposed rules would solve.
“The No. 1 thing for me is safety of tenants, and it’s unclear to me how this is directly going to improve safety for those tenants,” he said.
The framework doesn’t rely on inspections to get a licence approved, and instead relies on voluntary declarations from landlords, Back said.
“Bad actors are going to continue to operate unchecked unless someone files a complaint,” he said.
“I really think we have to attach a benefit to why we’re charging $140 to people who are providing housing,” Back said. “It may seem like a relatively small amount … but I also don’t want it to be seen as a cash grab.”
Coun. Betty Forbes said that enforcement of municipal bylaws is more reactive than proactive.
“In this case, it really bothers me because we could be talking about people living in these buildings that the owner has signed off on,” she said. “The owner gets the luxury of collecting the rent, and the people living there may not have any idea that they’re not going to be covered by liability if there’s a fire in there.”
Forbes suggested hiring a full-time inspector to review all of the licensed rentals.
Short-term rental limit extended to 90 days
Next on the agenda was a motion to extend the maximum stay for short-term rentals in the district.
When mayor and council passed new short-term rental rules on April 14, they expressed being in favour of fast-tracking an amendment to extend the stay limit beyond 28 days, based on public feedback.
Council voted unanimously to extend the maximum stay to 89 consecutive days, waiving a potential public hearing on the issue.
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