Toronto intends to have a new bylaw in place by the end of next July, aiming to halt a predatory practice used by some landlords to force tenants out in the name of building upgrades by using regulations implemented elsewhere to great success.
Housing advocates and politicians alike have battled for years against a practice known as renovictions. It sees tenants kicked out of rental units under the auspices of construction or maintenance work, when that work doesn’t actually necessitate the displacement. In many cases, tenants have reported learning no work was actually done and their former landlord jacks up the rent for another tenant.
Coun. Paula Fletcher said at a Wednesday briefing on the new rules that landlords will now be held to a higher standard.
“‘I’m changing your bathroom, I’m changing your kitchen cabinets and you need some new lights, I need this vacant in order to do that’ — well, that should be considered rule-breaking,” said Fletcher.
If approved by council, the new bylaw would go into place at the end of next July. It would include several requirements for landlords to prove they’re actually planning on doing the work before they can evict someone in Toronto. Each unit requiring a tenant to move out, will require a landlord to apply for a rental renoviction licence within a week of informing a resident their lease is ending. Each unit will require a licence and they will cost $700.
But before a landlord can even apply for a rental renoviction licence, they’ll first be required to get a building permit and submit a report to the city, detailing why the planned work requires a vacant unit. On top of that, landlords will be required to pay for moving fees or severance compensation if a tenant chooses to find another home following the work.
Housing lawyer Karly Wilson, who works at Don Valley Community Legal Services, said she has seen the number of renoviction cases rise by 30 per cent in the three years since she’s worked there. She calls the Toronto approach “massively overdue,” but thinks it will work here.
“They started in New Westminster in British Columbia, they put in this massive program,” she said, “and they saw the amount of renoviction applications drop, I think, close to zero.”
Hamilton is also set to see similar regulations go into place in the new year.
The plan will be debated at the Planning and Housing Committee next week and at Toronto City Council later in November.