Different types of landlords and renters

Re: “Renters, landlords both face high costs,” comment, Sept. 15. There are two types of landlords: Companies, often numbered, owning apartment blocks (many from outside the community) and private owners of one or two single suites or homes for rent.

There are two types of renters: Those who rent because they cannot afford to buy and those who choose to rent. These groups are separated mostly by income.

I believe the concern about blanket increases is toward the owners of the large blocks. As we renters know, the old “stock” is well past its best-before date, built in the 1960s and 1970s to outdated building codes, with little insulation or soundproofing, squeaky floors, leaky windows, doors that don’t close properly, etc.

We see rents increasing annually, regardless of any care to the property, or good or bad property managers. The more you pay, the higher your increase. With pensions increasing less than one per cent per year, it’s easy to see that rent increases of four per cent and 4.5 per cent will soon put pensioners out of their homes.

Many of the old blocks provide hot water and heat. This helps with the renter’s hydro bill. Other renters pay their own heat and sometimes hot water with ever-increasing hydro rates.

The blanket increase seems unfair to those living in blocks with varying degrees of amenities. Couldn’t there be a multi-tier system of increases that truly covers the landlord’s costs but doesn’t unfairly push those unable to afford the increases into unsafe housing or onto the street? Christine van’t Riet Courtenay