The cost of rent in British Columbia is going up again in 2019.

B.C. landlords will be allowed to jack up rents by as much as 4.5 per cent in 2019 — the biggest increase since 2004, when it was capped at 4.6 per cent. 

It's the sixth straight year that the maximum allowable rent increase has gone up. In 2018, the B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch set the rate at four per cent. 

It comes as Vancouver continues to grapple with a near-zero vacancy rate and sky-high rents.

Someone renting for $1,136 a month — the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver, according to the most recent data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — would pay an extra $613 over the course of the year. 

2.5 per cent inflation
Landlords are allowed to increase rents once a year by two per cent, plus the inflation rate.

The inflation rate is calculated using the 12-month average percentage change in B.C.'s Consumer Price Index ending in July, which is 2.5 per cent.

Landlords must give tenants three-months notice when increasing rents.

The NDP government has introduced some measures in the past year to help renters. 

It removed a clause in the tenancy act that allowed landlords to increase rates above the allowable rental increase limits to match rents within the neighbourhood. 

But the government has yet to introduce a $400 annual renter's grant that it promised in the 2017 election. 

The Vancouver Tenants Union has called on the government to freeze rents. It tweeted that it will be discussing the rent increase at its monthly general meeting on Saturday.

The union did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.