Eby holds town hall to address rental concerns across B.C.

B.C. Premier David Eby attended a town hall in Burnaby to discuss challenges facing renters across the province. (CTV)

B.C. Premier David Eby held a town hall in Burnaby Tuesday night to address housing concerns across the province.

A crowd filled Confederation Community Centre, as people were invited to ask the premier questions about how his government is tacking the rising cost of rent.

Questions revolving around affordability, building permits and evictions were raised.

North Vancouver renter Sajjid lakhani travelled to Burnaby to speak with the BC NDP Leader.

"I'm curious to hear how that will be implemented because of how digitalizing government services,” asked lakhani.

In response, the premier said "It’s not going to happen overnight, but there are places in the world where this is already happening."

"Just shortening that time so we can build that housing faster and bring down those costs, because you can’t live in an apartment sitting on someone's desk,” Eby continued. 

Several people asked the premier how his government plans to prevent landlords from evicting tenants to raise the rent price.

"We could be ‘renovicted’ at any given point in time," said one man in the crowd.

"It was a ‘renoviction. ‘Got to re-pipe, and you all have to get out,’" said another resident, Jesse Cowern, about his apartment building in Vancouver.

Eby responded to the crowd's eviction questions by directing them to seek legal advice, but said the government is working to prevent this from happening.

He explained that when a landlord sells an affordable rental property, the province is taking steps to find a non-profit owner and create baseline protections.

Tuesday's town hall comes just a day after the province unveiled its so-called Homes for People plan—a $12-billion investment over a decade, starting with a $4-billion commitment in the next three years.