Québec solidaire (QS) is urging Québec and the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, to remove from Bill 31 the provision that will allow landlords to prohibit the assignment of leases.
The abolition of lease assignments will only fuel rent increases, worsen the housing crisis and increase household precariousness, QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois argued on Wednesday, calling the crisis housing that is raging in several “national emergency” regions of Quebec.
“If the CAQ goes ahead with the end of assignments of leases, it’s a huge setback for tenants because the assignment of leases is one of the last defense mechanisms that tenants still have to protect themselves against the soaring rents that we have been witnessing in Quebec for years. »
According to a study published by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM), rental prices have increased by 44% in 10 years in the Montreal region and these increases could reach 30% within three years, recalled Mr. Nadeau -Dubois. “Mr. Legault, come back down to earth. Tenants cannot vote themselves a pay raise. They are being stifled by rising rents. »
Hundreds of households have not found accommodation for the 1er July while others have found a roof, but will have to pay too much rent for their income or settle for an apartment that is too small or unsanitary, he said.
Catherine Brunette is one of the tenants who, ten days before the fateful date of 1er July, has still not found accommodation for her and her two teenagers. Following a separation, Mr.me Brunette told her landlord that she would be leaving her Hochelaga-Maisonneuve home because she felt she was unable to pay the $1,480 per month rent on her own. Except she hadn’t expected the search for a new affordable home to be so difficult. The price of 5 ½ in her neighborhood ranges from $1,600 to $2,500, noted this single mother who wants to stay in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve to avoid having to change schools for her 16-year-old son. “Even the 4 1/2s, I haven’t seen many at $1250, the price I could pay. »
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois also criticizes François Legault for having said that he wanted house prices in Montreal to be similar to those of real estate in Vancouver and Toronto. “I don’t want Quebec to remain poor so that we can keep house prices lower,” said the Prime Minister on Monday when he came to the defense of his Minister of Housing.
This one is also singled out for a real estate “flip” that she made with a business partner in the La Petite-Patrie district a few years ago.
“François Legault lives in an imaginary world. It is completely disconnected from what the housing crisis really is. Worse still, he gives carte blanche to his minister who, she, proposes a bill that will make the situation worse, ”supports Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
Further details will follow.