A new rent register for all government authorities, including municipalities, has just been set up by the organization Vivre en Ville with the aim of curbing abusive rent increases in Quebec.
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The project inherited a citizen platform that has existed since 2017 and was revamped in 2021. However, it has just been brought up to government standards.
For now, the website includes data already collected through voluntary disclosures by citizens, nearly 15,000 rents.
The platform could be used by any government authority that wishes and will no longer be updated by tenants. This is what would allow this register to distinguish itself from previous similar citizen initiatives, boasts Vivre en Ville.
“We believe that the Rent Register can be a valuable tool for governments in their mission to protect tenants against abusive rent increases and curb real estate inflation,” said Christian Savard, general manager of Vivre en Ville, on Thursday. .
When a home is put on the market, the landlord knows the rental price history, which is not necessarily the case for the tenant.
At this time, landlords only need to notify any tenant of the lowest price paid in the last 12 months for the accommodation. This data is available in clause G of the lease.
This situation would therefore be to the disadvantage of the tenant when negotiating his lease. He would not be able to know if an abusive increase in his rent is applied, according to the organization.
“A register would help restore the balance in the balance of power between the owner and the tenant, in addition to providing a reliable, accurate and up-to-date dashboard on the situation of the rental market”, underlined Mr. Savard.
The register accessible online will present three main pieces of information, namely the civic address of the unit, the amount of the monthly rent and the reference year. All of this data will need to be updated annually.
The initiative was part of one of the recommendations put forward by Vivre en Ville to tackle the housing crisis last August.
The organization received a financial contribution from Centraide of Greater Montreal, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Laval Public Health Department to create the website.
During the last election campaign in 2021, the mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante committed to setting up a certification for Montreal landlords with a rent register.
For now, only the cities of Laval, Rimouski, Gatineau and Carleton-sur-Mer have expressed interest in such a register.
A few weeks before July 1, the situation remains critical for some households trying to find a rent corresponding to their income, particularly in Montreal.
According to a Léger poll released on Thursday, 32% of tenants questioned would not have the choice of accepting an excessive rent increase.
About 80% of them would not even be aware of clause G in their lease form to assess whether or not the rent has increased compared to the last year.
“We see that when tenants move, their rent increases on average by almost 20%,” added Adam Mongrain, Director – Housing at Vivre en Ville.
“It’s an unsustainable pace, caused in part by the lack of information on previous rents,” he said.
The survey was carried out among 5,550 Quebec tenants over the age of 16 between March 1 and March 18, 2023.