Editor:
Excellent column by Sarah Tesla outlining tenants’ rights in rental housing. What was lacking in her piece was any attempt towards balance by outlining the rights of the landlord.
I have never been nor will ever be a landlord because the deck is stacked against them. Why would anyone decide to invest in the rental market?
Building costs are exorbitant because of the costs of land, materials and labour are compounded by the interminable delays in the issuance of building permits.
Rent controls in major markets are often insufficient to keep up to rising inflationary costs –– taxes, insurance, etc. –– and do not allow compensatory rent increases for repairs and upgrades. Tenants can reoccupy the improved property with no increase over their previous rent.
Evicting problem tenants who fail to make timely [rental] payments are often intensified when the expelled tenants avoid any further rent payments, continue to live in the residence for months and often trash it upon departure.
Yes, there are slum landlords who take advantage of the disadvantaged. There must be minimum building standards and they must be enforced.
Finally, the only solution to the lack of rental accommodation is to make ownership of rental property financially attractive. The market will decide. When there are enough properties for rent, rents will have to be competitive or the property will sit vacant. Supply and demand will balance the rents –– not unbalanced government dictums.
Gordon Politeski, Sechelt
