NB Coalition for Tenants Rights and ACORN NB released the following joint statement today in response to the Government’s announcement of the endorsement of the recommendations in the rental review report
We are encouraged by the government’s commitment to review the Residential Tenancies Act this fall, but we are dismayed that the government has taken the side of corporate landlords on rent control, even before the legislation is drafted, and even before any consultation takes place. These companies are maximizing profits at the expense of tenants and are doing so to the tune huge rent increases.
Relying on the private market to set rents is going to result in more of the same - People will continue to suffer from large rent increases and summary evictions.
Landlord profits and the right to housing are not two sides of the same coin. Rights are not for sale- they need to be protected.
We welcome the commitment to provide advocacy organizations with tools to educate tenants about their rights. Rights education is an important component of the work we are doing and we would welcome the Government’s assistance in making that work more effective.
We remain disappointed that the Government ignored all the evidence that they themselves collected and published, continuing to deny that there is a housing crisis. 19% of tenants said they could not find a place to live in the province because they had children. 46% of landlords said they increased rents simply because they had new tenants. Just last month we heard of a 200% rent increase where the landlord only backed down after public outcry. Our organizations are inundated with emails and phone calls from tenants facing rent increases in the order of 20, 30 and even 50% on a regular basis.
There was no acknowledgement of the dangers posed by the proliferation of Real Estate Investment Trusts, of the exclusion of tenants in public housing from protections under the Act, or of the limited powers of the Residential Tenancies Tribunal in today’s announcement.
While we remain skeptical of the Government’s grasp of the lived realities of tenants in this province, we remain willing partners to help advance this important conversation.