(Montreal) Rent prices continue to explode in Quebec and regions outside major urban centers seem to be more affected, according to data compiled by the Regroupement des Comités Logement et Associations de Tenants du Québec (RCLALQ).
Posted at 12:21 p.m.
For a third consecutive year, RCLALQ has analyzed several tens of thousands of housing advertisements for rent on the Kijiji site. According to the organization, in 2022, a rental unit is 49% more expensive than the average rent established by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This rate was on average 31% more expensive in 2020, and 41% in 2021.
CMHC’s Rental Market Report annually discloses average rent prices for Canadian cities with populations of 10,000 or more. However, the methodology used consists of contacting landlords to obtain information on the dwellings they own, including the rent price of all their dwellings or whether they are occupied or not.
The RCLALQ believes that since this calculation includes the rents of tenants who have not moved for several years, it does not take into account the increase in the price of rents for housing units that are available on the market. According to the organization, renters in Quebec who have recently moved pay an average of $427 more per month than renters who have remained in the same residence for several years.
What we want to demonstrate is that when a tenant finds himself looking for housing, it is not true that he will pay an average price as announced by the CMHC, he will have to pay more.
Marjolaine Deneault, spokesperson for the RCLAQ
According to data from the organization, housing for rent is on average 9% more expensive in 2022 than in 2021, or $1,300 on average, all sizes combined. The biggest increase affects the “studio” category, an increase of 19% which establishes the price of rent at $951.
Deficient regulation
Mme Deneault believes that public housing policies are biased since they are based on CMHC data.
There are a lot of rent increases that happen when tenants change. This is why rents for rent are much more expensive than average rents.
Marjolaine Deneault, spokesperson for the RCLAQ
There are rules to follow, to ensure a certain control of rents. In particular, landlords must disclose the prices paid by former tenants. “Really either the price disclosed is not disclosed or the price is wrong. And there are no tools for the tenant to check”.
She denounces that the burden rests on the tenant in Quebec to refuse the increase. It is up to them to investigate whether the increase or the rent paid by the former person is reasonable.
However, there is a rent control with the Administrative Court of Housing (TAL). However, the TAL rent fixing mechanism is very little used, there are 7,200 rent fixing cases processed at the TAL in 2020-2021, of which only 275 were introduced by tenants, reports the RCLAQ.
Mme Deneault points out that even landlords are not always aware of housing regulations.
“Especially with the pandemic, there have been a lot of new owners. There are people who got into real estate without necessarily knowing the whole legislative framework surrounding housing, she says. They see housing as a way to ensure a retirement or to get a little more money, but there is a legal environment that you have to know and there is nothing that obliges them to know these laws. . »
The most affected regions
Unlike previous years, the major urban centers of the province (Montreal and Quebec) do not take into account the differences in the most significant increases.
Larger increases are observed in particular in the suburbs of the greater metropolitan area as well as in “several cities of intermediate size”, indicates the RCLALQ report.
Rental rents in the North Crown of Montreal are on average 20% more expensive this year than they were last year. The price of rents, all types combined, now stands at $1,400.
The city of Granby is however the most affected, according to the data, where there is a 54.5% increase in the cost of rental housing between 2021 and 2022 to settle at $1,213 on average, all housing sizes. confused.
The RCLAQ asks the Government of Quebec to establish a rent register and that it is the landlord who must demonstrate that the increase in rent is justified. The organization also wants better funding for housing committees so that they can better fulfill their mission of informing people about their housing rights.