The CEO of LandlordBC says over a third of the 476 landlords who were surveyed last month were not able to collect all of the rent that was owed to them.

However, speaking on NL Newsday, David Hutniak says while most landlords who were surveyed were able to collect rent in April, he’s not that sure it will be the same in May.

“Ten per cent got no rent, and 26 per cent some partial payment, and if this persists, that is hugely challenging,” Hutniak said. “What we are increasingly confident about is that May, June and beyond are going to get progressively worse, because people are running scared.”

Hutniak says the longer the pandemic drags on, the greater the economic consequences will be on the rental ecosystem in the province.

“Every province is suffering the same consequences here. I guess the ultimate irony here is that its the rental housing ecosystem which is renters and landlords,” he said. “We are both really in a really vulnerable position here right now, and that has immediate consequences, but also had long term consequences for both parties.”

Hutniak says the Federal Government should have launched a national rent supplement program, which would have helped eased the situation in B.C. and other provinces.

“It’s very clear that [tenants] have a responsibility to pay those rents and that is critical to maintain their housing, but these are unprecedented times,” Hutniak said.

“It’s really unfortunate because the federal government knew that they needed to keep people housed, that we needed to self isolate, and really it would have been fantastic had they put a national rent supplement program, a robust one, in place.”

And as LandlordBC is pushing for an expansion of the rental subsidy program in B.C., Hutniak is also calling for the income test to be removed.