The Government of British Columbia has announced that the legal rent increase in 2025 for rental housing will be lower than the 2024 rate, and it will continue to be tied to market inflation.
The 2025 limit has been set at 3%, which is a decrease from the 2024 limit of 3.5%. This new limit takes effect on January 1, 2025.
This ties the allowable rent increases in BC to the consumer price index. Prior to the pandemic, BC’s formula for calculating the rent increase was inflation plus 2%.
“At a time when we know renters are struggling, our rent cap protects renters against unfair rent hikes while allowing landlords to meet rising costs so that rental homes can stay in BC’s housing market,” said BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon in a statement today.
This follows several years of rent increases that were well below the inflation rate since the pandemic.
Due to the pandemic’s impact on incomes, rents were frozen in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, rent caps for 2022 and 2023 were set below the high inflation rates of those years to mitigate housing affordability issues for renters. However, some landlord associations have criticized this measure for not keeping pace with increasing building operations and maintenance costs.
Since 2023, the provincial government has been tying the rent cap to inflation, as inflation has now stabilized. The maximum allowable rent increase is defined by the 12-month average percent change in the Consumer Price Index for BC, ending in July of the year before the calendar year when the rent increase takes effect.
Historically, this is how annual rent increases have panned out in BC over the past two decades:
- 2025: 3.0%
- 2024: 3.5%
- 2023: 2.0%
- 2022: 1.5%
- 2021: 0%
- 2020: 2.6% (before March 18, 2020); 0% (starting March 18, 2020)
- 2019: 2.5%
- 2018: 4.0%
- 2017: 3.7%
- 2016: 2.9%
- 2015: 2.5%
- 2014: 2.2%
- 2013: 3.8%
- 2012: 4.3%
- 2011: 2.3%
- 2010: 3.2%
- 2009: 3.7%
- 2008: 3.7%
- 2007: 4.0%
- 2006: 4.0%
- 2005: 3.8%