(Quebec) With the adoption of her housing law, Minister France-Élaine Duranceau officially reduces the scope of the transfer of leases, but she also gives “superpowers” to cities to build housing more quickly and adds the law provides compensation when an owner evicts a tenant, for example.
The lease transfer controversy
As soon as her bill was tabled in June 2023, the Minister of Housing created controversy with her desire to tackle the transfer of leases. For tenants’ rights organizations, it is a rare “rent control” measure, in the midst of a housing crisis when the cost of housing is skyrocketing.
Previously, a tenant could choose to transfer their lease to another person. The owner could only refuse with a serious reason, for example, his insolvency. Now, the owner will be able to refuse and recover the accommodation to carry out work, for example. Organizations fear this will lead to rent increases.
For Minister Duranceau, however, it “is not up to the tenant to control the increase in rent for the next person.” She was the target of much criticism when she declared, during an interview with Noovo, that a “tenant who wants to do that, should invest in real estate”, but she stayed the course and kept this measure.
“Superpowers” to mayors to build more housing
The study of Bill 31 was special. After holding a public consultation, the commission suspended its work last October, and Minister Duranceau added several articles to the bill.
With one of these amendments, it will give a “superpower” to cities: that of overriding the “molasses” of urban planning regulations to put a stop to “not in my backyard” and authorize at high speed the construction of housing, particularly at height. The opposition parties said they feared the appearance of urban warts and a return to favoritism and collusion, Quebec has the support of mayors, who applauded the initiative.
Compensation of one month’s rent per year
The bill will oblige the owner evicting a tenant to compensate him in the amount of one month’s rent per year of continuous residence in the accommodation, with a minimum of three months, and a ceiling of 24 months, at which adds “reasonable moving costs”.
It is also the owner who will now be responsible for justifying his decision to evict a tenant by going to the administrative housing court. This is therefore a reversal of the burden of proof. This is what made France-Élaine Duranceau say that the opposition parties will have to carry the “burden” of tenants in a situation of eviction.
“If the bill is not accepted before January, they [les partis d’opposition] will carry the burden on their shoulders when the lease renewal notices start coming in. They will carry the burden on their shoulders that we are not there to protect people who are in difficulty,” said the Minister responsible for Housing last October.
Another punitive measure: the law wants to dissuade landlords from inflating rents by threatening them with a fine if they do not fulfill “clause G”, where they must indicate the lowest price paid for the rent during the 12 last months. If they don’t, they could now be fined.
No expansion of the “Françoise David law”
Despite Québec solidaire’s attempts, Minister Duranceau refused amendments to broaden the scope of the “Françoise David law” to better protect seniors from eviction. Seniors’ rights groups such as FADOQ also called for the law to be broadened by lowering the eligibility thresholds to 65 years, to five years of rental and by increasing the eligible income provided for by law. Minister Duranceau justified this refusal by asserting that her law puts in place mechanisms to protect all tenants against evictions, regardless of their age.
Predictability for beautiful new housing
With her law, Minister Duranceau will force owners of new constructions to “ensure predictability” for their tenants by indicating to them upon signing the first lease “the increases they could expect for the first five years,” indicates her desk. Previously, “Clause F” allowed them to increase leases without restriction for five years, to amortize unforeseen construction costs.