---
title: "BC Greens announce protections for leaseholders, a group the party says current law leaves out"
description: "The BC Green Party published a platform commitment on October 21 to extend legal protections to people living in long-term leasehold housing, which sits outside both the Residential Tenancy Act and the Strata Property Act."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/bc-greens-leaseholder-protection-lowan-october-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-22T23:48:05.989Z"
---

The BC Green Party published a platform commitment on October 21, 2026 to extend legal protections to people living in long-term leasehold housing. The party says about 2,500 BC homes sit outside both the Residential Tenancy Act and the Strata Property Act, leaving residents with no legal recourse when building owners raise fees.

The announcement came from the party's own website. Every figure and quote below reflects what the party says.

## What the party says about the problem

Long-term leasehold homes are typically structured as 99-year lease agreements. The BC Greens say most of these homes are in Victoria and Vancouver's West End.

Katharine Ferguson, a leaseholder quoted in the release, said: "We're not protected by the Residential Tenancy Act or the Strata Property Act, and building owners are taking full advantage."

BC Greens leader [Emily Lowan](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/emily-lowan) said: "People living in housing subject to long-term leasehold contracts aren't protected by the law, and corporate landlords are taking full advantage, squeezing exorbitant profits out of people's homes."

The party's candidate for Victoria-Beacon Hill, [Rajinder S. Sahota](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/rajinder-s-sahota), said: "People living in housing subject to long-term leasehold contracts deserve the full protection of the law."

## What the announcement does not say

The BC Green Party release does not describe which specific protections it would introduce, which legislation it would amend, or on what timeline. The party puts the number of affected homes at 2,500, a figure voche.me has not independently verified.

No response from the BC NDP or the Conservative Party of BC was found in published reporting at the time this article was written.

## What a voter can do

If you live in long-term leasehold housing, you can read each party's full housing platform before voting. Find the BC Green Party's page at [/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party). Voting day is Saturday, October 24. Find your voting location at elections.bc.ca.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/provincial-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.