NDP has the best plan to deal with rent affordability
The word crisis is overused, especially during an election campaign. But it’s not hyperbole when used to describe the situation with rent affordability in Ontario today. A crisis is exactly what we have.
Consider a new report released by the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO). It confirms with hard data what observers have been saying for some time. Nearly half of all tenants in Ontario earn less than $40,000 a year. Three out of four of those households are paying rents that meet the bar for “unaffordable”. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation defines affordable as when shelter costs are less than 30 per cent of pre-tax household income.
The ACTO report, timed to get the issue in front of voters before the provincial election, says rising rents force tenants to sacrifice basic necessities. They have to choose between paying the rent and buying nutritious food, refilling prescriptions and paying utilities. They can become isolated due to lack of resources. In some cases, they can become homeless.
How we got here is significant, but not as important as where we go next. The report calls for several actions: That the provincial government match federal National Housing Strategy funds, that more housing be built where rents are no more than 30 per cent of income, that existing affordable stock be protected from landlords seeking to push existing tenants out for greater financial return and that housing be considered a right under law. What do the three parties seeking to govern the province say? With the Liberals, the proof is in the proverbial pudding. They can claim to have done some good by expanding rent controls to rental units built after 1991, and making some other modest changes. But they haven’t made a serious dent in the problem on the ground. And the odds of the Liberals governing again are steep.
With the PCs, the answer seems to depend on who Doug Ford is talking to. He has been quick to insist he won’t remove existing rent controls, although he is regularly accused of hiding his real intentions. There are no details in the incomplete PC platform on the question.
But we do know this: in at least one media interview Ford was asked about his intentions on rent control, and he responded: “Ya, I just don’t like it. I like having the market dictate.”
Andrea Horwath’s NDP has a more robust plan. It promises a full review of the Residential Tenancies
Act, and also legislation to stop landlords from rent gouging and squeezing out tenants so they can dramatically increase rent. That’s encouraging.
Here are a couple of specific areas that should be addressed. Landlords are allowed to apply for rent increased above the rent-control grid — called Above Grid Increases (AGIs) — to pay for capital improvements. Some are neglecting basic maintenance for long enough that a capital improvement is required so the landlord can dramatically increase rents. Some perform unnecessary upgrades to qualify for AGIs. Another loophole allows landlords to increase rent on empty units by any amount they want, making the affordability crisis even worse.
The NDP previously tried to introduce measures addressing these loopholes, but the government wasn’t interested. Now, with the Liberals on the way out and the NDP tied with the PCs, these long-standing issues may finally get the attention they deserve.
Don’t let your candidates off the hook on this crisis. The status quo is not sustainable.
Don’t let your candidates off the hook on this crisis. The status quo is not sustainable.