Due to the fact that landlords will have a larger selection of tenants,
they will always choose the party with the best job, rental history, etc.
making it difficult for first time renters and people with limited incomes.
This was not a problem when the vacancy rate was over 5%. This can only
be solved in two ways:
1) Government construction of housing-not.feasible in
today's economy and political climate
2) The removal or modification of rent controls-to
encourage new construction.
If a tenant voluntarily vacates an apartment, it should be
removed from rent control. This system will encourage landlords, in
general and in less desirable areas, to renovate apartments to be able
to attract tenants plus in time increase the cash flow of buildings which
would translate into higher assessments and revenue for the
city and lower realty taxes for home owners. (CMHC
Report-1999 Vacancy Centennial 6.25% Lord Selkirk 10.0%) This
will increase the apartment stock, plus upgrade the high vacancy areas.
People in general always want to improve their material conditions-better
vehicle, well-maintained apartment, etc. etc. At this time, there
is a shortage of high quality apartments for rent-rental range $1,000.00-$1,500.00
per month. The people who can afford this type of
accommodation are retired or professionals. These people have sold
their homes, as their children have moved out and they have disposable
incomes. As the new units come onto the market, they will either sell their
homes or move to better apartments. This will create a ripple effect on
all lower priced apartments. The other benefits are more construction,
realty taxes,
etc.-the entire economy will benefit.
As landlords will have to compete for the more desirable tenants, they
will upgrade the apartments-painting, carpeting, etc., again creating more
apartments and economic activity.
Negative impact of present rent controls:
1) No new construction for ten years.
2) Lower assessments on buildings-reduction in tax revenue for
city.
Many of the apartment buildings are over twenty years of age and require
substantial investments to upgrade. Rent controls have limited the cash
flow of these buildings which has impacted the condition of the
apartments and rental income, which in turn has reduced the assessments
of the majority of apartment buildings-this city has been forced to increase
realty taxes on single family homes. In effect, the single family home
owner is subsidizing tenants in apartment buildings.
It takes many years to feel the full impact of rent controls-abandoned buildings, falling assessments, run-down properties-all these things have now impacted the city. Regulations must change to reverse this trend. They say there are two ways to destroy a city-a bombing raid or rent control-rent control takes longer.