from CLEO’s On the Radar bulletin:
As 2024 approaches, tenants will start getting notices from their landlords for an annual rent increase.
The rules about rent increases are complicated. To learn which rules apply to them, tenants need to know if:
- they’re covered by the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA)
- they have an agreement with their landlord to add extra services or space
- their landlord has applied for a rent increase above the annual guideline
They also need to know the age of the building or unit that they live in.
The general rule
For tenants protected by the RTA, a landlord must wait 12 months after the tenant moves in before raising the rent. And they can raise the rent only once every 12 months.
For tenants protected by the RTA, a landlord must wait 12 months after the tenant moves in before raising the rent. And they can raise the rent only once every 12 months.
A landlord must also give the tenant written notice of the rent increase at least 90 days before the day the rent goes up.
For example, tenants whose rents are going up on January 1, 2024, should have received their written notice no later than October 3, 2023.
Landlords should use one of the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) rent increase forms. The most common form is the Form N1: Notice of Rent Increase. If a landlord uses their own notice, it must have all the information that’s on the LTB form.
Rent increase guideline
For most tenants covered by the RTA, there’s a limit to how much their rent can increase each year. This is called the rent increase guideline or the guideline.
The guideline is set each year by the Ontario government. In 2024, it’s 2.5%.
Read the full bulletin from CLEO here: On the Radar
Comments are closed