Two sisters in Toronto were left stunned when their landlord decided to raise their monthly rent by a whopping $7,000. Khadeja Farooq and Yumna Farooq were initially informed of a rent increase to $3,500, but after expressing their concerns, the landlord astonishingly revised it to $9,500 per month.
Having lived in their two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit for three years, the sisters suspect that this exorbitant rent hike, amounting to $114,000 annually, is an attempt to pressure them into vacating the premises due to their requests for lease modifications.
This situation highlights a peculiar aspect of Ontario’s rental regulations. While landlords are typically restricted to raising rents by 2.5% annually, this rule does not apply to newer buildings constructed after November 15, 2018. Such buildings are exempt from rent controls, allowing landlords to impose any rent increase they see fit.
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Geordie Dent, the Executive Director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, expressed his dismay, blaming the government’s decision to scrap rent control for newer units as the root cause of such egregious rent hikes.
“This is what we warned the government would happen when they brought in this legislation,” said Dent referring to when the Doug Ford’s government removed rent controls for newer units to entice developers and increase the province’s housing supply.
“The simplest solution is to bring back rent controls on all units.”
At Queen’s Park, both the NDP and the Liberal parties have called on the Ford Government to reinstate rent controls to make housing more affordable for Ontario renters.
Jessica Bell, MPP for University Rosedale and housing critic for the NDP, argued that strong rent controls, akin to those in place during the 1990s, are necessary. John Fraser, MPP for Ottawa South and Interim Leader for the Ontario Liberal Party, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of some form of rental controls on all properties.
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