Windsor city council approves residential rental licensing bylaw
The City of Windsor is hoping to make rental housing in the city’s western wards safer with a new residential rental bylaw scheme.
Council passed the bylaw for wards 1 and 2 Monday night as a two-year pilot project, which is designed to raise property standards and ensure property owners are compliant with the city’s building and fire codes.
These wards are home to The University of Windsor and St. Clair College, which is where the majority of student renters reside.
“Our goal is not at any point to stop landlords from renting or to put people out, we want people to have safe housing and that is the purpose,” said City lawyer Shelby Askin-Hager.
When the pilot project goes into place in an estimated six months, rental housing owners will need to have their units inspected and licensed.
“The pilot, as it’s being proposed, it’s surgical. I think it’s going to narrow in on some of the trouble-makers, the landlords that aren’t playing by the rules,” says Ward 2 coun. Fabio Costante, who says the long-standing issue is one of the reasons he ran for office in the first place. “The hope is over time, the standard of housing stock in our community is elevated and conforms to just the minimum standards under the building code and fire code.”
Landlords will have to pay a per-dwelling unit annual licensing fee of approximately $466 in year one, and $275 in year two.
A handful of property owners appeared as delegates during Monday’s meeting, speaking out against the bylaw. They argue the licensing fees punish good landlords and tenants, because the added fees will ultimately be passed onto renters, raising rents in an already expensive market.
“I can’t speak to the very very very small percentage of landlords who are not following the code, but this licensing bureaucracy is pretty well going to make all the landlords, even the good ones, and there is a vast majority, to pay a fee, pass it along,” says real estate agent Al Teshuba.
“The road to misery, my friends, is often paved with good intentions,” says John Seeman, a local property owner. “This bylaw is unbelievable, some of the things that it’s requiring… Why don’t we use this money as landlords to actually solve some of the problems?”
But councilors who voted in favour hope the pilot will allow the city to collect data and determine if the pilot should continue or potentially go city-wide after the pilot project wraps up.
“One of the big reasons why we cautiously moved forward with this measured approach to institute a pilot is to track this information, gather the data and determine if in fact it’s true that rents are increasing and what’s the shake up of this implementation,” says Costante.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Montreal doctors' breakthrough discovery about causes of cerebral palsy giving hope
A breakthrough discovery made by doctors at the Montreal Children's Hospital about the causes of cerebral palsy is giving new hope to one West Island family.
Weather alerts issued for 7 provinces, 1 territory
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
Ontario homeowner on the hook for $27,000 when contractor severed power line
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
For years she thought her son had died of an overdose. The police video changed all that
Austin Hunter Turner died in 2017, on a night that his mother has rewound and replayed again and again, trying to make sense of what happened.
Feeling older than you are? It could be how you sleep
Not getting enough sleep may cause you to feel five to 10 years older than you really are, according to two new studies.
OPP seize $7.5 million worth of drugs in eastern Ontario
The Upper Ottawa Valley Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police says one person is facing multiple charges after a traffic complaint on Highway 17 in Head Clara Maria Township.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Why Kim Kardashian is being sued for 'knockoff' furniture
The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian this week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted 'cheap knockoffs' of his furniture designs.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.