(Montreal) Québec solidaire undertook on Sunday to introduce a bill to counter “savage rent increases” for buildings that have been rented for less than 5 years.
Posted at 12:27 p.m.
At the moment, section F of the leases allows the owners of these dwellings to raise their prices as they wish, without the tenants being able to contest it.
“The mechanisms to prevent abusive rent increases are not working,” Solidarity housing and housing spokesperson Andrés Fontecilla said in a press release.
“Not only do rental housing vacancy rates continue to fall at an alarming rate in the region, but rent increases far exceed the rates suggested by the Administrative Housing Tribunal,” he added.
The latest report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, released Friday, indicates that in several small municipalities in Quebec, these vacancy rates are close to 0%.
Mr. Fontecilla called on the Minister of Housing, Andrée Laforest, to legislate on Section F: “Does she defend the interests of families in Quebec or the interests of large real estate owners? »
The minister’s office did not immediately respond to messages from The Canadian Press.
Blind betting
But according to the Association of Quebec Landlords (APQ), clause F is necessary to encourage the creation of new housing, while these are beginning to be lacking in several regions of Quebec.
“The expenses of a new building are difficult to predict,” said the president of the APQ, Martin Messier, in a telephone interview. “With a more flexible marketing […], we can afford a certain margin of error. »
He cited the case of landlords who forget to complete this section, and who realize belatedly that the rents they receive are not sufficient to maintain the building, or that “there is no one left who wants to buy this building”, for lack of profitability.
According to him, without this provision, the owner will “rent at the most expensive price possible”, for fear of losing money.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Fellowships.