Western Gazette: London passes renoviction bylaw, advocates want more

London City Council unanimously passed a bylaw aimed at protecting tenants from unfair renoviction, but some advocates say the measures are not enough.

A renoviction refers to when a landlord evicts a tenant by saying they will perform major renovations, demolish the unit or convert it to commercial use.

Before evicting tenants for building renovations, landlords will now have to obtain a licence from the city, an affidavit proving the tenant received proper notice and approval from an architect or engineer stating the eviction is necessary for safety during renovations.

“The premise of this bylaw is to provide for protections and enforcement for tenants who are experiencing displacement through bad faith renovictions. Without it, landlords are motivated to evict tenants so they can jack up the rent to double or triple previous costs,” said Jordan Smith, chair of the London chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Before council’s vote on Sept. 24, around 30 ACORN protesters held a “camp-out” outside city hall.

ACORN is an international group of community unions for low to moderate income individuals. Since its founding in 2020, ACORN’s London chapter has focused on tenant advocacy.

Earlier this year, the City of Hamilton enacted an anti-renoviction bylaw after pressure from ACORN Hamilton. According to London city councillors and city staff, Hamilton’s bylaw inspired London’s proposed restrictions.

But many tenant advocates and city councillors felt the proposal did not do enough and was missing critical components of the Hamilton bylaw.

Ward 7 city councillor Corrine Rahman suggested that the council refer the bylaw proposal back to an internal committee to include more protections seen in the Hamilton bylaw and pushed for by ACORN. These included requiring landlords to provide alternative accommodation or rental top-ups during the renovation.

Rahman’s motion failed 9-5. Opposing councillors cited the potential consequences of delaying the bylaw’s implementation further and the lack of evidence surrounding the effectiveness of Hamilton’s policies.

Ahead of the final vote, Ward 13 city councillor David Ferreira proposed increasing the fines for landlords who failed to comply with the new policies and requiring a report evaluating the bylaw’s effectiveness a year after its implementation. Despite failing to gain traction in the Community and Protective Services Committee weeks earlier, council approved Ferreira’s amendments.

While the bylaw failed to meet all of ACORN’s demands, many believe this will be an improvement from the status quo.

“As weak as it is, it is better than nothing,” said Ward 6 city councillor Sam Trosow.

Smith echoed Trosow’s sentiment.

“ACORN’s campaigning helped make this bylaw happen, and it’s a victory to have a bylaw in place, but it’s not the victory that the public is being made to believe it is,“ wrote Smith in a statement to the Gazette.

According to data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation rent in London has increased by 62.5 per cent in the past decade, and vacancy rates have reached near record lows. Advocates argue that measures like alternative accommodation requirements and rent top-ups are necessary to ensure longtime tenants don’t become homeless in a competitive and increasingly unaffordable housing market.

“We’re happy to see a 12-month review period added to the bylaw, because ACORN members are going to continue to work on this over the next year, reaching out to our allies and community partners and continue turning up the heat on City Council until they get it right,” wrote Smith.

*******
Article by Finn Toporowski for Western Gazette