Wynne’s ‘Fair Housing Plan’ is puzzling

Rent control will surely drive down supply

Good news, everyone! I, National Post columnist Chris Selley, am pleased to announce that I now enjoy rent control in my fancy wee Toronto condominium with all its mod cons and high-end finishes. Better yet, all the other relatively well-to-do urban types who live in units built after 1991 — that’s almost exclusively condos — now enjoy the same privilege. This is Point Two of the Liberal government’s 16-point “Fair Housing Plan,” released Thursday: absent special circumstances, all rentals in the province will henceforth be subject to the same 2.5 per cent annual cap on rent hikes.

This is quite a relief for my cohort. You may have heard of our plight from the Toronto Star or the CBC: we are youngish people who freely contracted to lease dwellings in a high-end, high-priced, non-rent-controlled slice of the market — but then, as demand far outstripped supply in the booming city in which we are so lucky to live, landlords had the temerity to raise the rents. Sometimes by a lot. Sometimes by more than we could afford. Some of us had to move, and no one should ever have to move.

I myself had feared receiving an unaffordable notice of increase over the summer. I had grimly priced out much cheaper, much more spacious pre-1991 alternatives, and shuddered at the thought of hand-washing dishes and using — ugh — communal laundry facilities. But now, thanks to Premier Kathleen Wynne, I rest easy. I launder mere steps from my couch, and Whirlpool’s indomitable Quiet Partner II takes care of the washing up. I can feel my fellow Ontarians’ good wishes washing over me.

Whassat? Oh sure, there are naysayers. My inbox groans under the weight of unsolicited complaints. The majority of economists agree rent control drives down supply, and everyone agrees housing supply — rentcontrolled supply, non-rentcontrolled supply, whatever — is the GTA’s primary need. Developers say rent control is a disincentive to building; some are threatening to down tools on their many projects.

That … that actually sounds like a bit of a problem, doesn’t it? And in the past, I myself have observed that unless units are rent-controlled between tenancies — which they are not, and will not be under the Fair Housing Plan — a hot market like Toronto’s encourages landlords to turf their tenants on whatever pretence they can find, then jack up the rent. Many tenants will complain, of course, and some will win the day at the tribunal. Most will not complain.

Well, never mind. I would certainly complain. And I have rent control! I can’t imagine what compelled Premier Wynne to bestow upon me this unearned gift, which seems entirely at odds with her stated goal “to help more people find affordable homes (and) increase supply,” but she has my gratitude. I must try to think of a way to repay her.

As for the other measure making headlines, a 15 per cent “Non-Resident Speculation Tax” in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area — that’s Point One of the 16 — I must say I am confused. It doesn’t seem to be a tax on “speculation” at all, but rather a tax on houses that’s based on the buyer’s residency status, regardless of his intentions.

I certainly understand how property speculation might drive home prices into unrealistic territory, but why does it matter where the speculator is from? There is little indication foreigners are a big part of the Toronto market. If speculators are the culprit, wouldn’t it make more sense to tax land transfers based on, say, length of ownership — regardless of the owners’ or buyers’ nationalities?

It’s a bit unfair, when you think about it. The government says “Ontario’s economy benefits enormously from newcomers who decide to make the province home,” and yet it’s slapping a tax on people who can’t even vote their displeasure. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted anything to dissuade the Chinese owners of my condo from entering the Toronto market, and I can’t imagine why the government would have wanted to either.

Ah, well. I have rent control. All is well. They’ll haul me out of this place in a coffin in 60 years. Unless the owners sell it to someone who wants to live in it, that is, in which case I’ll be flung out into a rental market that could be even tighter than it is now … thanks, in some part, to rent control.

Hmm. Let me have a look at those other 14 points ...

I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT COMPELLED PREMIER WYNNE TO BESTOW UPON ME THIS UNEARNED GIFT. — COLUMNIST CHRIS SELLEY

DAVE ABEL / TORONTO SUN / POSTMEDIA NETWORK Developers have argued that rent control is a disincentive to building, with some threatening to slow down or cancel their projects, which sounds like a major problem for a city in desperate need of more housing, Chris Selley writes.