Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal - reduction in services

[nstn]

Later this month the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal (ORHT) will be shutting its existing office here in Kingston. Services will be offered at a reduced level by a single staff person.

Kingston currently has the lowest vacancy rate in all of Ontario.

Our tight rental housing market has put significant pressures on both housing providers and tenants.

Both landlords and tenants are finding even the current ORHT process both costly and time consuming to administer. The service reduction will only create more problems and possibly increase homelessness in our community.

Is this not an essential provincial service for both landlords and tenants?

[spacemenace]

Yes, it is essential.
That said, the one and only time I needed the service, I found it online and obtained all the info and attention necessary via internet.
So, whether there's an office or not wasn't relevant in that one instance, but I'd hazard a guess that many who need the service aren't necessarily 'wired'.

[Nancy Foster]

should we not put our efforts on the supply side? How can more rental housing be provided in Kingston?

[nstn]

Providing a new supply of housing for Kingston is critical. But a fair and accessible system of dispute resolution for both landlords and tenants is equally important.

William Ewart Gladstone's comment that "Justice delayed is justice denied" would seem appropriate here. With this service reduction it may little or no justice at all for either landlords or tenants.

[spacemenace]

Originally posted by Nancy Foster
should we not put our efforts on the supply side? How can more rental housing be provided in Kingston?

Who do you want to do the supplying? Make the building and owning of apartments profitable again, and more will be built.

http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9
This thread about tax rates might help answer the question.

When I lived in Toronto, the rent control legislation was met with dancing in the streets - and a nearly complete halt to building rental units. Every new building for the next decade went 'condo'.
Apartment availablity dwindled to less than 2%. Maintenance and upgrades suffered until once-attractive buildings became filthy and dangerous places.

People want to pay peanuts, and expect palaces. It just doesn't work in my opinion.

[ptech]

Unfortunitly these days people are paid peanuts and many jobs are now part time without benifits.

With rents rising and low paying jobs not keeping up with the raising rents. Hard working people must decide whether to pay for rent or food.

Many of these people do not live in palaces but they do try to work with dwindling resources.

[macphail]

Originally posted by spacemenace
Apartment availablity dwindled to less than 2%.

Imagine what would happen if Ontario voted in Howard Hampton and his NDP's. His platform includes freezing rents for 2 years! Rent freezes, combined with extra students looking for a place to live sounds like a disaster in the making!

Combine rent freezes (which will shrink supply) and sharp increases in the minimum wage (decrease demand of minimum wage workers) and you wonder who policies such as these are really aimed at benefitting: the person living on the margin or the politician needing votes.

The underlying motives - helping people are the fringes - should be encouraged, but policies such as these are the wrong way of going about it. Ontario and Canada needs ideas from the Left, but at the same time, they must be grounded in reality.

Cheers, Derek

[Bandit]

Clearly there is something wrong when we have very low vacancy rates, vary low interest rates, available land, and yet virtually no new rental construction at any price point. Many of the issues causing this are out of local government hands from unaffordability caused by widening income diveristy to income/capital gain/gst tax issues.

The gross discreprency in muti residential property tax rates is obviously a deterent. While there was an existing 8 year holiday on new buildings that tax change opponents point point out didn't help, 8 years was too short a time in the life of a building. Permanently equalizing the rates is needed.

Homestead wants to build between their buildings on Portsmouth/Bath. They cite the city's development charges as being so high they would have to price the units over what the market will bear. Could these be lowered to releive the housing crises and have the promise of increased tax revenue in the long haul?

Restrictive city zoning seems to be stopping properties from being developed. Block D looks to be scuttled over 4 stories. The proposal to turn the boarded up former Biggs restaurant property into an apartment was derailed over height and a few parking spots. Encouraging higher density building in city cores seems to be the growing trend across North America. Should Kingston loosen zoning restrictions to make building viable?

Kingston has developed a very anti devlopment reputation. Look at the shameful record of losing OMB hearings on proposals that meet existing zoning. Is it time to stop pandering to the NIMBY vocal minority?

[shortface133]

I agree with the post about Kingston having the reputation of being anti development we seem to find ways to stop it but not incourage it. Why not have a partnership between the City Council and Developers and instead of discouraging apartment building through cost why not incourage by allowing a reduction in red tape cost if apartment owner is willing to desgin a percentage of building to be at a price ceiling affordable to those at the lower end of the pay scale

[nstn]

It is hard to believe that Kingston is really 'anti-development'. Development and construction projects across Kingston are simply booming along. In fact, in some cases you almost have to line up to get your work done - contractors and sub-contractors have a steady flow of business.

There are some projects in Kingston that have simply not proceeded due to other business factors: lack of financing; insufficient market to justify a start-up; poor business plan, etc.

The list of municipally approved projects that failed to start is quite long and includes: the Gibson Dock hotel project; the Queen and Bagot condominium project; the Clarence Street commercial and condominium project; the Queen and Ontario Former LCBO site

Even privately owned Block 'D' has been zoned and ready for development for many years.

More often than not the developer's plans or financing have simply fallen through.

[nstn]

There has been a slight delay in the planned closing of the local office of the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal Office (ORHT). Apparently renovations at the Ministry of Natural Resources Offices where the single remaining clerk wil be located are incomplete.

However, both landlords and tenants with disputes soon have to line up with the folks seeking new fishing licences at the MNR office. An odd setting for quasi-judicial hearings on serious matters.

A curious government 'economy' at best.

[ptech]

Quote from Spacemenace.

People want to pay peanuts, and expect palaces. It just doesn't work in my opinion.



This is what I get to see for $500 from my palace.

An increase in rent of $40 in a 2 year period. $40 spent right will buy a week ++ of food.

That's not a chipmonk.

[macphail]

Originally posted by ptech
That's not a chipmonk.

I can't tell from my computer what it is? I'll take a guess and say it's a rat??

Cheers, Derek

[nstn]

The problem for many tenants is keeping up the hovels they do live in. Some landlords in Kingston are exemplary in their operations. But others in the city are simply there to milk the maximum revenue from the property. This, of course, provides a real challenge to the city in maintaining property standards through by-law enforcement.

[bill]

When the orht first started up it was great. Service was very quick and there were many situations resolved by the mediators.