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Landlords refuse to be used as political parties' credit card

CORPIQ is calling on all political parties participating in the election campaign to stop promising social measures that would be funded at the expense of landlords. Instead, it urges them to commit to reforming the laws that have long discouraged investment and now threaten the long-term viability of Quebec's rental housing stock.

Man dressed in a suit and carrying bags and files from the 2014 election race under his arm

In recent days, several political parties have made promises that CORPIQ considers unacceptable.

"Landlords are being used as a credit card to pay for the gifts political parties are offering to tenant voters. It would be unthinkable for these parties to strip landlords of their remaining rights simply to grant additional benefits to tenants, especially when fewer and fewer owners are willing to remain in the rental housing business," the organization said.

Among the proposals CORPIQ considers purely election-driven and detrimental to landlords are:

Eliminating the fundamental right of landlords to repossess a dwelling for their own family's use.
Creating a lease registry to further tighten what is already an overly restrictive rent control system.
Requiring the private sector to finance, in place of the government, the construction of housing intended for certain categories of tenants.

Structural reforms advocated by CORPIQ: creating a virtuous cycle

CORPIQ is urging all political parties to refocus on fundamental issues that have been the subject of repeated promises but have gone unfulfilled by successive governments over the past decade, such as revising the rent adjustment criteria and reforming the Régie du logement.

"By steadily suffocating the rental housing market, governments themselves created today's housing supply problem. They are now trying to address the consequences with a series of promises that would only make matters worse. It is a vicious cycle that continues to weaken the private rental sector," explained Hans Brouillette, CORPIQ's Director of Public Affairs.

Instead of short-term election promises with negative long-term consequences, CORPIQ proposes sustainable measures that would create what it calls a "virtuous cycle":

Attract an additional $2 to $4 billion in annual investment for rental housing renovations by reducing the amortization period used in the rent adjustment calculation for major capital improvements from the current 38 years to between 7 and 12 years, as was the case during the 1980s and 1990s.
Generate an additional $1 billion in private investment by exempting fully renovated rental units from rent control for five years, as is already the case for newly constructed buildings.

Without requiring any public spending, these two measures—fully financed by the private sector—would generate nearly $1 billion in additional tax revenue for the Quebec government over three years. Those revenues could then be reinvested in housing assistance programs for low-income households through targeted rent supplement programs.

If political parties truly cared about tenants' well-being, CORPIQ argues, they would introduce a genuine home renovation tax credit that also applies to rental housing—a measure that would ultimately pay for itself through increased tax revenues.

CORPIQ also proposes additional measures that would reduce government expenditures, including the annual operating budget of the Régie du logement, which exceeds $20 million:

Reduce both the number of cases and the delays before the Régie du logement while restoring greater balance between the parties by allowing landlords to require payment of the following month's rent in advance, as well as a security deposit equivalent to one month's rent (to be fully refunded when the tenant vacates the unit in good condition).
Cut by half the time required to enforce an eviction order in cases involving more than three weeks of unpaid rent, reducing the overall process from approximately four months to two.

"If the next government fails to create conditions that encourage investment and sound management in the rental housing sector, thousands more rental units will continue to disappear, be converted into condominiums, or simply be withdrawn from the rental market. This trend will only accelerate. The current constraints are already harmful, and in such circumstances landlords, tenants, the government, and Quebec as a whole all lose," concluded Mr. Brouillette.