Rent controls for condos?
In 2013
Mike Harris made some changes to the rent control
legislation. One
change was to make all units constructed after 01 November 1991
entirely exempt from rent control, other than to restrict rental rate
increases to once a year.
Unlike tenants who rent in older buildings, who's annual rent increase
is set by the government, if the unit was built after October
1991, landlords can raise the rent to whatever level they can get.
By the way, it is the tenant that is protected by rent
controls, not the apartment. Whenever a tenant moves out, the landlord
can raise the rent for the next tenant to whatever level the market
will bare.
For the foreseeable future, the huge stock
of new condos
being constructed should help keep rent increases in check.
Bring
back rent controls?
NDP position
In
the spring of 2013, the Ontario NDP introduced a private members bill
which was intended to introduce rent controls to all rental units in
Ontario.
Cindy Forster, the NDP’s municipal affairs and housing critic, stated:
“When a tenant in Ontario is forced out of their home by an arbitrary
rent increase, the system is not working,” she said on Tuesday.
“Closing this rent increase loophole is an important step in making
housing more affordable in Ontario and ensuring fair protection for all
tenants.”
What loophole?
There is no loophole. All renters in newer buildings are not covered by
rent controls by deliberate policy, not by landlords finding an
unintended "loophole".
Getting
rid of rent controls on new properties created a boom in condo
construction with as many as 50-90% of downtown condo units in some condominiums
being rented by
small-time investors and by companies owning large blocks of units.
Dustbin
of history
As far as Ontario goes, rent controls—like collective farming and other
failed socialist policies—is a non-starter. Only the NDP want to re-introduce them.
Conservatives
The Conservatives are opposed to rent controls.
Liberals
The
Liberals agree. Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Linda Jeffrey said this in a statement at the end of April 2013:
"The post-1991 rent exemption was originally introduced – and has
been
maintained over time – as an incentive for private landlords to build
new rental accommodation. This incentive not only helps to renew the
rental housing stock but also creates jobs in the construction sector.
As such, any changes to this incentive could have an adverse effect on
the rental housing sector, the economy and job creation."
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