B.C.’s pandemic rental assistance applications open

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — Applications for rental assistance are now being accepted from people in B.C. needing a break during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province is providing temporary supplements between $300 and $500 a month for people who can prove they’ve lost wages.

While MLA Spencer Chandra- Herbert says the province doesn’t yet know how many people will apply, it’s aimed at those who need it most.

“Really if you are eligible for EI, or the emergency response benefit, or, this is important, if you’ve had a 25 per cent reduction in your monthly income or more then you can qualify,” he says, adding there are some income thresholds and does not apply to very wealthy people.

In addition to those who have lost 25 per cent of their income, this assistance is also for people paying more than 30 per cent what they make on rent.

Chandra- Herbert says they tried to broaden the criteria for assistance, so more people can apply. This includes households with multiple roommates and families taking take of children.

So the rental assistance offers three payments from April to June of $300 a month for households without kids, that brought in less than $74,000 last year, and $500 a month for those with dependents, that make $113,000 or less that year.

The money will go directly to landlords within a week of approval.

However, as people are trying to get through an incredibly hard time Chandra- Herbert is asking renters and landlords to be fair.

“There are those that cheat, there are those that lie, there those that abuse their authority. My message to anybody who is out there who is trying to throw their weight around to throw their power around to harm another is: stop,” he tells NEWS 1130.

As for commercial rent, Premier John Horgan says he’s looking to banks to be flexible and that is starting to happen as B.C. jobless numbers mount.

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“We need to focus on them, first and foremost, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” he says.

Overall, Horgan says saying they are continuing to look for gaps in federal programs and work to fill them provincially.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson says the pandemic is putting pressure on people across the province.

“We’re helping British Columbians get through this by halting evictions so renters will not lose their home. We’re helping them pay rent with the new temporary rental supplement – providing direct relief on the biggest month-to-month expense for most households,” said Robinson, in a release. “Together with the other provincial and federal programs, the rental supplement will give people the financial support they need right now.”

Right now, rental assistance is only available until June, but if someone has already paid rent this month, they can still apply for relief.

With files from Marcella Bernardo