Victoria passes motions on derelict buildings and air conditioners in rental units

This week, Victoria’s city council passed two separate motions relating to enforcement against derelict buildings, neglected properties and vacant commercial spaces, and preventing landlords from banning air conditioning in rental units. 

The derelict buildings motion was brought forward by Councillors Matt Dell and Dave Thompson on Thursday, July 23rd. 

According to these councillors, derelict buildings and neglected properties are a concern due to potential public safety hazards, as well as because they often accelerate the deterioration of surrounding properties. 

Furthermore, unused properties such as these represent delay or lost opportunity to reduce the housing shortage through redevelopment and creation of net new housing.

“Derelict properties are an opportunity—for more homes, active businesses and neighbourhood vitality,” said Thompson.  

“This motion will help us understand how our bylaws and politics can be adjusted to bring these properties back, and what other municipalities have done.”

The councillors highlighted the downtown core’s vacant spaces, or “investment sites,” noting that building owners will often keep a building empty rather than find a tenant because the building’s value continues to increase annually. 

“Victorians work hard to make this a great place to live, so it’s not acceptable for property owners to let their buildings remain empty or fall into disrepair,” said Dell.  

“This is especially important in the downtown core, where we’ve seen some prominent buildings sit empty for many years.”

For these reasons, Dell and Thompson believe that dealing with properties like these is a matter of community wellbeing. 

Their motion asked staff to report back on options to strengthen city bylaws and enforcement tools related to derelict buildings, to review the tools used by other municipalities and present options to council.

The motion passed unanimously via the consent agenda. 

The other notable motion that was passed by city council first came up in a committee of the whole meeting held in late May by Councillors Dell, Thompson and Jeremy Caradonna. 

They sought to put a bylaw in place that would protect renters in Victoria against having a landlord prohibit the use or installation of air conditioning units. 

The motion was passed in May and City staff were directed to report back on how this prohibition on air conditioning bans could be achieved. 

During this week’s meeting, staff brought back a verbal report on the matter. 

Currently the Residential Tenancy Act states that landlords can prohibit air conditioning units if they can prove that it would cause safety or building issues. 

According to staff, BC Building Code was recently updated to require one room in every dwelling to be able maintain a temperature that does not exceed 26°C. 

This change came about due to increased heat waves brought on by climate change and the health risks associated with extreme heat. 

Staff said that there are a few approaches council could take to achieve their goal, some more complex than others, and all with considerations that would need to be made in order to protect tenants from rent increases. 

Next steps could start by removing barriers to cooling equipment, which could be easily initiated. 

This would be achieved by making amendments to the City’s Rental Property Standards of Maintenance Bylaw that would ensure no prohibition of cooling devices in rental units, and by ensuring that where cooling devices already exist, that they are properly maintained. 

This would involve staff returning to council with another report on what amendments would be required. 

During discussion on the motion brought forward by staff, Councillor Krista Loughton proposed an amendment that would include passive cooling strategies in the motion, such as putting tin foil or solar foil on windows to keep the heat at bay. This amendment was approved. 

Ultimately, the motion brought forward by staff was also unanimously approved. 

Staff will now work on another report to bring to council with the necessary bylaw amendments required to prohibit landlords from banning air conditioning in rental units.