John Horgan and the NDP have talked a big game about improving the rental housing situation in this province. But I would argue they have hurt, more than helped, the rental market and the players within it— landlords and renters.
I’ve been hearing concerns from local landlords that recent NDP measures have eroded their rights and made them hesitant to open up or continue to offer their vacant suites to renters. The numbers certainly bear that out in places like Vancouver, where we’ve seen a drop of more than 1,000 units from the secondary rental market.
Partly to blame is the fact that John Horgan and the NDP have made it harder for landlords to recover the cost of maintaining a rental suite. They recently changed the formula for annual rent increases, making it difficult for landlords to pay for needed repairs and maintenance of their units. These restrictions add up year after year because many rental units in BC are decades old and in need of maintenance.
Now, the NDP’s Rental Housing Task Force did make a recommendation to give landlords the ability to apply for an additional increase to cover maintenance and renovation expenses. But so far we have seen no movement on the issue, which limits the ability of landlords to reinvest and maintain rental stock— which will actually end up hurting renters in the long run.
Renters are also being hurt by John Horgan and the NDP’s inaction when it comes to creating more housing supply, which is the fundamental issue they face right now. Renters and landlords both benefit from more housing choice, because without it bad actors can profit from a system where there is no competition. We absolutely need to build more rental units so people have a place to live, but we see no plan from John Horgan and the NDP to do that. We also continue to wait for the NDP to make good on its promise of a $400 renters’ rebate, which never materialized beyond an election promise.
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John Horgan and the NDP are making it harder for landlords to continue to offer up vacant suites, at a time when they’re also not creating enough supply to meet the high demand. If this persists, so too will housing unaffordability in this province.
Submitted by Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
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