5.4 Health, Housing and Safety Standards

The Residential Tenancy Act says that landlords must ensure that their rental properties:

  • comply with health, housing and safety standards required by law; and
  • are suitable for occupation – factoring in the age, character, and location of the unit.

Your rental unit should be in reasonably good shape when you move in. If you discover that something needs to be repaired in your new home, you likely do not have the right to back out of your tenancy agreement and move in somewhere else. When something needs to be fixed in your rental unit, notify your landlord in writing as soon as possible and give them a reasonable amount of time to correct the situation. If your landlord is refusing to cooperate, you can apply for a repair order and monetary compensation through the Residential Tenancy Branch’s dispute resolution service.

 

Resources