Ending a tenancy in BC for landlord's use

This guide is for landlords and property managers in British Columbia who need a rented home back because they, a close family member or a buyer will live in it. In BC, that takes at least three months’ notice, created through the Residential Tenancy Branch’s Landlord Use web portal, plus one month’s rent in compensation. The person moving in has to actually live there for at least a year. Get any of it wrong and the notice can be cancelled, or you can owe the tenant a year’s rent.

The timing is easiest to see working backward from the day you need the home.

The day you need it: September 1

Say your daughter is starting university in Vancouver and needs your rented condo from September 1. The tenant pays rent on the first of each month and is on a month-to-month tenancy.

A landlord’s use notice has to end the tenancy on the day before rent is due, so the tenancy would end August 31. If the tenancy is for a fixed term, the end date can’t be earlier than the end of that term.

Three months before: by May 31

Since June 18, 2025, the notice period is at least three months. Before that it was four, and notices given before that date still needed four. For an August 31 end date, the tenant needs to receive the notice by the end of May, and earlier if you’re serving it by mail, which adds five days before it counts as received.

Give yourself more room than the minimum where you can. A tenant with more time is more likely to find somewhere and less likely to dispute.

Before the notice: is your situation allowed?

Before creating anything, check that the reason fits.

The person moving in has to be you or a close family member. In BC that means your parent, spouse or child, or your spouse’s parent or child. A sibling, grandparent or friend doesn’t qualify. Your daughter does.

For a sale, the buyer can ask you to give notice once all conditions of the sale are met, if the buyer or their close family will live in the home. The buyer asks you in writing, and you give the notice.

Some buildings are off limits. Landlord’s use and purchaser notices can’t be used in a building with five or more units that isn’t strata titled, or that is strata titled but owned entirely by one landlord.

And the intention has to be genuine. The Residential Tenancy Branch looks at whether the notice is given in good faith, and if a tenant disputes it, you’ll need to show the plan is real.

Creating the notice

Landlord’s use and purchaser notices have to be created through the RTB’s Landlord Use web portal, which asks who will move in and generates the notice. A notice written on an old form or by hand isn’t valid. Serve it the way the Act allows, such as in person, by mail or by email if the tenant has agreed to receive documents that way, and keep a record of how and when.

After the notice

The tenant has 21 days to dispute it with the Residential Tenancy Branch. If they do, there’ll be a hearing, and you should be ready to explain who is moving in and why.

The tenant can also leave earlier than the end date by giving you 10 days’ written notice. That doesn’t reduce what you owe them.

Compensation: one month’s rent

A tenant who receives a landlord’s use notice is entitled to one month’s rent. You can pay it directly, or the tenant can simply not pay rent for the last month. They’re entitled to it even if they leave early with a 10-day notice.

After they move out: at least 12 months

The person named in the notice has to move in within a reasonable time after the tenant leaves and live there for at least 12 months. If they don’t, the tenant can apply for 12 months’ rent in compensation, and it’s up to the landlord to show what happened. The RTB can excuse this only in extenuating circumstances, such as the person dying before they could move in, or the home being destroyed by fire.

So if your daughter’s plans change in July, talk to the tenant before the end date. Once they’ve gone and no one moves in, the risk is yours.

The rules that catch people out

Using the wrong form, or anything other than the portal. Ending the tenancy on the wrong day, or before a fixed term ends. Not counting the extra days for mail. Naming a family member who doesn’t qualify. Re-renting the unit, or listing it for sale, within the year. Each of these can lead to a cancelled notice or a year’s rent in compensation.

The RTB’s Policy Guideline 2A covers landlord’s use in detail, and the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre explains the same rules from the tenant’s side, which is worth reading before you give notice. Writing a residential tenancy agreement in BC covers the lease side of the same tenancy.