Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to bring to light today a situation affecting my constituents and, I suspect, the constituents of other Yellowknife ridings. Yellowknife’s rental housing market is extremely tight at the moment; the vacancy rate is less than 1 per cent. We’re all well aware of the current costs that are attached to the provision of heat, power, maintenance and so on that landlords must endure — particularly fuel costs. So it’s no surprise that tenants across the city of Yellowknife are receiving notices of pending rental rate increases.
Constituents have advised me that their rent increased in 2007 more than 16 per cent, with an increase in 2008 of another 11 per cent or 16 per cent, depending on their apartment size and the term of the lease.
I don’t begrudge the landlords the opportunity to raise rents to meet their costs and to have a positive balance sheet at the end of the day. The current Residential Tenancies Act allows landlords to raise rents once in a 12-month period, and that’s not unreasonable. What I am concerned about is the lack of any control for the amount of a rent increase. I find it unreasonable that tenants will have to endure rent increases two years running, each one as high as 16 per cent.
In a housing market with a normal vacancy rate, residents would have the option of looking for cheaper accommodations. Yellowknife renters don’t have that option today. They are effectively held to ransom by the landlord.
The NWT needs to put in place a mechanism of appeal for tenants who feel they are facing an unacceptable rent increase. At the moment they can’t appeal to the rental officer; he can only respond to things that are in the act. The act is silent on the amount of allowable rent increases. The act is also silent on the need for a landlord to provide any justification to tenants in regard to a proposed rent increase.
I think tenants recognize the rising cost of doing business and are willing to accept some increase in their rent. But a 16 per cent increase when the cost of living increase is no more than 3 per cent seems out of line.
I urge the Yellowknife rental property owners to consider meeting with their tenants to explain why such a huge increase is necessary. At the very least, they should provide their tenants with written justification, including facts and figures to back up their proposed increases.
Few of our residents have the capability and capacity to appeal a rent increase via the court process, but at this time that is the only possibility open to them. Maybe it’s time for the NWT to seriously consider establishing an ombudsman service to hear appeals from residents on any issue — not just rent concerns — where legislation has no avenue of appeal. I believe it’s a service whose time has come. I hope the government will give it serious consideration in the future.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.
