BURNABY, July 9, 2018 – The BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) has made a submission to the provincial government's Rental Housing Task Force recommending measures to expand and better protect the supply of rental housing in the province. As property prices across B.C. continue to escalate, pushing home ownership outside the realm of affordability, access to affordable housing has become a central concern for BCGEU members.
 
The submission offers recommendations grouped around three core policy directions required to improve life for tenants in B.C. including resourcing and reforming the Residential Tenancy Branch; reforming residential tenancy law and regulations; and increasing the supply of affordable rental housing.
 
"More and more, workers across the province are seeing their incomes squeezed by high rents and find themselves in states of precarious housing," says BCGEU Treasurer Paul Finch. "If we want workers in our province to thrive, we have to improve protections for renters and ensure there is enough affordable rental stock for all British Columbians."
 
These recommendations are also in line with the union's report Building an Affordable B.C., co-authored by CUPE 1767 President Jared Melvin and Vice President Harpinder Sandhu, which recommends implementing a Land Value Capture (LVC) tax as the centrepiece of a recalibrated tax system. This tax would curb speculation on the part of developers and banks, who for years have been making runaway profits in an environment that is largely untaxed and unregulated.
 
View the BCGEU's submission to the Rental Housing Task Force here: https://www.affordablebc.ca/rental_housing_task_force_submission
 
View the report Building an Affordable B.C. here: https://www.affordablebc.ca/our-plan
 
The BCGEU is one of the largest and most diverse unions in British Columbia, representing over 77,000 members across the province.
 
For more information contact Bronwen Barnett, BCGEU Communications, 604-719-4713