Rent Control: Impacts on Income Distribution, Affordability and Security of Tenure

Karl Burak was a solicitor in North Vancouver, B.C.

The degree of control over the relationship between landlords and tenants is a reflection of the political, social, and economic programs of governments. Not surprisingly, socialist and liberal governments have tended toward schemes that have stressed societal approaches, while conservative and right wing governments, to the extent that current norms have allowed politically, have favoured schemes aimed to encourage an open, unfettered market. The pros and cons are usually a matter of perspective, but the extent to which rent control schemes have moved and been accepted is undeniable. Provincial governments in Canada have done more than codify the common law, and the unrestricted supreme landlord is clearly an apparition of the past.

The arguments for and against rent controls seem endless. Rent controls produce lower incomes for landlords and investors, lower incomes result in less housing construction, less construction means less employment; but lower rents create more disposable income for consumer goods, more disposable income results in more purchases, more purchases stimulate manufacturing, and manufacturing creates jobs. When all arguments have been heard, as one may suspect, the answer is inconclusive. The authors confirm this view.

The end result is a thoughtful, objective collection of essays. Discussions move through the impacts of rent control in Ontario, security of tenure in other jurisdictions, the affordability of rental housing, rent control, and redistribution of wealth. While the principal focus is upon rent control in Ontario, there is comparison and contrast with policies and structures of rent control schemes throughout Canada. In some cases, as with British Columbia, the comparisons are now historical, but as political patterns shift and rent control schemes are tightened or relaxed, the comparisons will have application with other jurisdictions.

This collection will be serious reading for students, planners, developers, lawyers, landlord and tenant groups, those concerned to know all of the arguments in depth. It will be informative and rewarding reading for a wide audience interested in the broader subject of redistribution of wealth. Rent control, housing, and the economic and social interests of owners and renters provide an ideal backdrop to consider this broader pervasive subject.