The City of Hamilton is considering what to do to protect tenants when landlords seek to evict them to do major renovations. Specifically, the city is considering whether to apply the kinds of rules adopted by the city of New Westminster, B.C. which significantly reduced renovictions. You can fill in the survey at https://engage.hamilton.ca/renovictionpolicy until March 5.
Landlords need to be able to renovate their buildings but tenants need to be able to exercise their rights under the Residential Tenancies Act to return to the unit at the same rent. New Westminster’s bylaw provided a means for ensuring tenants were able to exercise that right. (The city later repealed its bylaw when it was satisfied that a new B.C. landlord-tenant act had the same effect.) If the tenant does not exercise their right to return, the landlord can raise the rent on the vacated unit by any amount.
Here is what the survey asks, with suggested answers from Affordable Housing Team co-chair Bill Johnston. The survey asks (1) if you are a tenant, landlord or neither, (2) your type of home, (3) whether your home needs major repairs that will cause a displacement, (4) whether you think the provincial legislation favours landlords or tenants or finds the right balance (the legislation is fine but its use is complex, which favours landlords), (5) whether you think renovictions affect a large population or small (large and growing), (6) whether you have been renovicted or have evicted a tenant for renovations, (7) if you’ve been renovicted, did you receive 120 days’ notice, receive a form to fill out, receive financial compensation, and/or return to your renovated unit at the same rent, (8) the same choices but for you if you are a landlord, (9) whether you think Hamilton should require landlords to register for a license to rent property (yes), (10) whether you think most landlords and tenants know their rights and responsibilities when it comes to renovictions (many tenants likely do not), and (11) what role should the city of Hamilton play in a renoviction situation.
A suggested answer is: As New Westminster BC did, Hamilton should require all landlords to take out a license to run a residential rental business. And a condition of the license should be that before an eviction notice can be issued for a renovation, the property owner must provide alternative accommodation during the renovation and offer a return to the renovated unit when the work is done, at the previous rent, or to another comparable unit in the same building on the same or better terms as the old unit.