Rental licensing pilot decided after election
Next council will determine if two-year project or a registry is the best way to weed out subpar housing in Hamilton
A decision on whether Hamilton will pursue a rental licensing pilot project in two student heavy parts of the city will be left up to the next council.
A staff report before the rental housing subcommittee on Sept. 27 delves into the pros and cons of a two-year pilot in wards 1 and 8.
It also presents the pluses and minuses of a registry, as well as the option of simply beefing up bylaw enforcement and launching an education campaign.
The report notes that the licensing and registry options are for low-density rental housing of five units or less.
“It’s my hope that we can make a recommendation,” Coun. Terry Whitehead, chair of the subcommittee, said Monday. “There’s going to be a difference of opinion around that table.”
That guidance would be for the next council, however, since the current council’s last meeting is Sept. 26 and the municipal election is Oct. 22. Whitehead said he “can live” with a registry but prefers licensing, which would place more obligations on landlords.
Licensing and registration have been thorny topics in Hamilton, with pushback from landlords and anti-poverty advocates who are concerned low-income tenants could be displaced.
However, both mechanisms have been pitched as ways to weed out subpar rentals and hold bad landlords to account, an area in which bylaw enforcement is seen by some as falling short.
In 2013, council opted not to act on a proposal for licensing and instead struck the subcommittee to study the issue.
Whitehead’s Ward 8, on the west Mountain, is home to many Mohawk College students. Ward 1, which is Coun. Aidan Johnson’s constituency, is thick with McMaster student rentals.
The staff report estimates there are between 1,500 and 2,000 low-density rental units between those two wards. The current rules are a “patchwork” of inadequate bylaws, the report says.
Whitehead said an education campaign won’t allow tenants to know whether a unit meets building and fire code requirements.
The subcommittee’s fact-finding trip to London, Ont., showed licensing has improved rental housing there, he said. “It’s night and day.”
Displacement was never an issue, Whitehead added, calling that fear an “urban myth.”
Under both the licensing and registry options, landlords would be charged an annual fee of $200, which is meant to fund administration and enforcement.
The registry would oblige landlords to provide the city with proof of ownership and contact information, a zoning inspection and consent for dwelling inspections.
In addition to those requirements, licensing would demand proof of insurance, as well as inspections for property standards, yard maintenance and electrical safety. Landlords would also have to provide floor and parking plans.
The potential setbacks of both include costs passed on to tenants through higher rents, homeowners discouraged from renting out units and landlords reluctant to open their doors for inspection.
Three new staff positions at a cost of $347,463 would have to be created to administer and enforce a registry or licensing, the report says.
Depending on its outcome, the two-year pilot, which would start in 2019, could lead to city-wide implementation.
In February, city politicians also received a report from consultant Brad Clark that presented alternatives to licensing.
The study, commissioned by the Hamilton and District Apartment Association, argued licensing would see landlords download costs on to tenants and reduce the rental stock with red tape.
It made 25 recommendations, including encouraging anonymous tips about apartments that don’t meet bylaws, free unit inspections and expediting building permits for “granny flats.”
Clark, a former Stoney Creek councillor and MPP, is running for Ward 9. Whitehead is seeking re-election in the newly drawn Ward 14, while Johnson is not running again.