Rent control is an important tool in our arsenal to keep housing costs down, but people should understand that the real reason that Quebec’s rent control laws aren’t strictly enforced is that they’re far too exigent. The super exigent rules (by far North America’s most pro-tenant) but loose enforce hits a sort of sweet spot that keeps rents from shooting up too much, but keeps the incentive (of potentially greater profits with a move-out) there for landlords to enter the market and do proper upkeep.
The literature is pretty clear: the strict enforcement of rent control laws like ours would result in a lot less rental housing, as we experienced a crash in the value of property as an income generator and, consequently, a flood of people exiting the landlord business. This would be fantastic for anyone wanting to buy a home – with a huge of wave of small time landlords exiting the market, it would be the best time to buy since the run up to the last referendum.
As someone who rents, I’d love the opportunity to score a grand old former rental, maybe on Laval Street off Square Saint Louis. Hey, and since the city/boroughs still haven’t prevented unit combinations, if the prices came down, maybe I could score an entire rental building and convert it into a single family home.
On the other hand, we’d probably be looking at the end of most new condo construction for at least a decade until housing prices recovered, which would bum me out, as I work in construction.
Plus, my broader project of keeping rents would take a big hit: as units permanently left the rental market as owner move-ins, you’d see more new construction of purpose built rental with higher rents for people still on the rental market, and this would be more expensive than pretty much any equivalent in the existing stock. Plus you’d see a jump in homelessness, which I guess we would just put in tents, since that’s the new position.
Anyway, there’s a reason it is the way it is, and the way it is isn’t all that bad.
david344 13:45 on 2021-04-25 Permalink
Rent control is an important tool in our arsenal to keep housing costs down, but people should understand that the real reason that Quebec’s rent control laws aren’t strictly enforced is that they’re far too exigent. The super exigent rules (by far North America’s most pro-tenant) but loose enforce hits a sort of sweet spot that keeps rents from shooting up too much, but keeps the incentive (of potentially greater profits with a move-out) there for landlords to enter the market and do proper upkeep.
The literature is pretty clear: the strict enforcement of rent control laws like ours would result in a lot less rental housing, as we experienced a crash in the value of property as an income generator and, consequently, a flood of people exiting the landlord business. This would be fantastic for anyone wanting to buy a home – with a huge of wave of small time landlords exiting the market, it would be the best time to buy since the run up to the last referendum.
As someone who rents, I’d love the opportunity to score a grand old former rental, maybe on Laval Street off Square Saint Louis. Hey, and since the city/boroughs still haven’t prevented unit combinations, if the prices came down, maybe I could score an entire rental building and convert it into a single family home.
On the other hand, we’d probably be looking at the end of most new condo construction for at least a decade until housing prices recovered, which would bum me out, as I work in construction.
Plus, my broader project of keeping rents would take a big hit: as units permanently left the rental market as owner move-ins, you’d see more new construction of purpose built rental with higher rents for people still on the rental market, and this would be more expensive than pretty much any equivalent in the existing stock. Plus you’d see a jump in homelessness, which I guess we would just put in tents, since that’s the new position.
Anyway, there’s a reason it is the way it is, and the way it is isn’t all that bad.