Landlords are taking advantage of the strong demand and driving up rents at the end of a lease or even before the end of a prospective tenant’s visit, leaving low-income people no chance.
• Also read: Abusive Rent Increases: More than 100,000 affordable housing units disappeared in Quebec in five years
“I was looking at a 4 1/2 for me and my son that was listed at $1,420. But at the end of the visit [le propriétaire] told me he has to top it up with the $1,520 request because there are “too many people who want it,” laments Vincent Michaux St-Louis, who is looking for an apartment after a breakup.
Impossible for this teacher to pay this price. Because even with a good salary, it would account for more than 63% of his net income.
“At $1,520 a month it’s not complicated, I just can’t do it. With a child, I would put myself in the hole,” explains the family man.
So because of the prices, the latter even starts looking at the 3 1/2.
“With a teacher’s salary, it seems possible for me to live in a 4 1/2 in Hochelaga,” he said angrily.
Other tenants notice that their landlord raises the rent very significantly if they do not renew the lease. This is especially true for a Repentigny tenant who saw the price of her apartment go from $810 to $1,050.
“There’s mold in the floor and we have cockroaches, so we’re leaving. We were very surprised to see that he wanted to rent for so much. […] I don’t see how single people can afford these apartments,” says Sophie Bélanger Daoust, 24.
real estate market
While Mr Michaux St-Louis understands that nothing prevents landlords from raising prices at will, he regrets that rents are now set by supply and demand.
“The owners abuse a market, but at the same time we cannot blame them. Anyone who wants to make money would do the same. Just posting an ad will get the guy 50 visits so for sure he’ll raise the price, it’s legal so why wouldn’t he? he says.
For the latter, the government needs to put in place a system to regulate these increases, which prevent many people from finding decent housing.
COMPETITION
And this kind of surge in response to demand is becoming more and more common, laments Véronique Laflamme of the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU).
“We are really in an environment where there are all kinds of abuses, but the planned measures are not sufficient to prevent the rental costs from exploding,” supports the spokeswoman for the organization Véronique Laflamme.
Martin Blanchard, co-spokesperson for the Regrouping of Housing Committees and Tenant Associations of Quebec (RCLALQ), agrees.
“It’s totally illegal to fix the rent, but the problem is that it’s absolutely not marked or controlled by the Housing Administration Court [TAL] and of the law who stubbornly ignore this facet of the problem,” he denounces.
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