A researcher says that Hamilton is losing 29 of the affordable units it builds for every one it builds
Tenants at an apartment building in Hamilton are fighting to keep their cheap units because they say their landlord broke the law by not letting them move back in after repairs.
It shows how cities are “bleeding” affordable housing, which Steve Pomeroy, a researcher, says is happening in Hamilton. Tenants are being kicked out or moving out, and their apartments are then rented out at much higher prices. This is happening much faster than new affordable apartments are being built.
Pomeroy said that for every affordable unit Hamilton builds, the market forces take away 29 affordable units.
Herman van der Meiden is one of the tenant losing out. He was kicked out of 309 Strathearne Ave. at the end of July after the building’s owner Kevin Moniz convinced the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) that he needed all four tenants out so he could do a lot of work. The board’s decision was given to CBC Hamilton.
Van der Meiden, who is 59 years old, said he paid a little more than $700 for his one-bedroom apartment. He is currently paying for a new apartment, which he had hoped would be temporary. However, he says the rent is “twice as much for half the size,” and he has had to use his savings to make up the difference.
“This isn’t my home here,” van der Meiden said. “This is a hole in the freakin’ wall.”
“This isn’t my home here,” van der Meiden said. “This is a hole in the freakin’ wall.”under Ontario law.
“This isn’t my home here,” van der Meiden said. “This is a hole in the freakin’ wall.”
“Landlords often cheat on evictions and raise the rent, which is why we are losing these affordable units,” Dent said.
The landlord told the tenant that he can’t come back
In emails seen by CBC Hamilton, Moniz offered van der Meiden his unit back in late December and van der Meiden accepted.
A few days later, though, Moniz seemed to change his mind. In another email to van der Meiden, he said that he couldn’t afford to rent the unit for less than market value because of renovation and building permit costs, inflation and interest rate hikes, and the fact that he had been out of work since the summer because of a car accident. His emails didn’t have a new cost for renting.
In an email sent on Jan. 1, Moniz said, “I’m sorry to tell you that the rental unit will not be available.” “Trying really hard to make it work, but it can’t… I will deal with LTB if I have to, but right now I can’t do anything.”
When CBC Hamilton asked Moniz for a comment, he did not give one.
Van der Meiden said, “There’s no conscience there, none.” “It’s terrible. I’m just hoping and praying.”
Their lawyer, Kimberly Farrell, said that he and two other tenants have filed a “T5” with the LTB to say that the landlord kicked them out for no good reason. On April 5, there will be a hearing for one of the renters.
One of the units in the building seems to be listed ona rental site for $1,650 a month.
Farrell said that if the unit is rented out, the LTB won’t kick out the new tenant, but it can order the landlord to pay up to $35,000 to the previous tenant. But if the landlord doesn’t follow the rules, it’s up to the tenant to go to small claims court to get things done.
She asked the LTB to stop renting out the units until the cases are heard, but that won’t happen until the cases are heard.
“We need the Landlord and Tenant Board to have more power to enforce the law and stop renovations,” Farrell said.
She said that if the LTB had more power, it would fine landlords more or order them to let tenants move into empty units while their own units are being fixed up.
“What can we do to stop the blood?
Darlene Wesley, 65, is a fourth tenant who hopes the group wins back their units. She was the last person kicked out of the building in January, and she doesn’t know if she’ll be in the same situation when the renovations on her unit are done in a few months.
She said that she had a fixed income from her Old Age Security pension and paid $720 a month for her 18-year-old home.
In a city where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment has reached a new high ofnearly $1,800 a monthWesley said that she can’t move because she doesn’t have enough money.
She is staying with her daughter for now. Her daughter also lived at 309 Strathearne Ave. and filed a T5 at the LTB.
Wesley said, “If I go back, I’ll stay there until I die.”
Pomeroy, a consultant, senior research fellow at Carleton University, and member of McMaster University’s Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, said that Hamilton has lost 15,000 units that were considered affordable at less than $750 a month.
Early in March, he told the council what he had learned about the Hamilton rental market. The city is trying to figure out how to deal with its affordable housing crisis.
Pomeroy said that there aren’t enough new rental buildings being built, and that demand is going up as Hamilton’s population grows.
“There aren’t enough affordable homes in Hamilton,” Pomeroy said. “How do we stop the blood loss?”
He told the council to stop trying to build its own affordable housing and instead help tenants avoid being kicked out of their homes in the first place, increase rent subsidies, and make the social housing that is already there bigger, among other things.