The rising cost of rent is an issue that affects everyone in Saskatchewan, from small cities to larger centres. The provincial NDP believes that rent control is one of the solutions. Leader of the Opposition Dwain Lingenfelter and Yorkton NDP Candidate Chad Blenkin recently spoke to The News Review about their ideas for rent control.
Lingenfelter says rent control is one part of a greater NDP housing plan, and he believes that their methods would prevent some of the problems associated with the controls. He calls the plan the "next generation of rent control," and says it takes inspiration from successful initiatives in other provinces.
"At the present time, 65 per cent of Canadians have protection from rent increases, and have a cap on rent. We think that with the huge increases, an average of 10 per cent in our communities, that's far higher than it should be. In Manitoba, for example, in 2010 had a rent cap of one per cent and B.C. a cap of two per cent."
Just including a cap is only a part of the plan, he says. He points out that Manitoba's rent plans have methods to encourage new rental unit starts, which he says the province could adopt. New built rentals are not affected by rent controls in the province, and Lingenfelter believes that could be successfully adopted here.
"They have managed to find a system where, on the existing stock of rental units they have the cap, and on new units there's no cap for twenty years, and they have the best of both worlds, where they are protected, but they have a record number of new units being built. In Saskatchewan we have record increases, and no new units being built," Lingenfelter says.
Encouraging building is one of the main issues in the province, as vacancy rates get increasingly low. The NDP leader believes that the government could encourage more building by using potash royalties to fund new starts. He believes that the current government is not taking enough royalties, and proposes that an increased provincial cut could fund such projects.
"For example, PotashCorp in the last two years has gotten $2.8 billion in profit, almost all of that going to the United States to shareholders... The people of Saskatchewan got zero in royalties over that two year period.
If you were taking half of that in royalties, say $1.4 billion you could imagine what we could do with housing programs, with reducing small business tax, and with building daycares and hospitals," Lingenfelter says.
He believes that a business like PotashCorp would not walk away from a $1.4 billion profit, even if it is reduced from previous years, and an increase in royalties would not scare off the resource sector.
Blenkin says that the issue of rent control is especially pressing in the Yorkton area, with 35 per cent of the population renting their homes. Blenkin also notes that according to CMHC stats, approximately 1350 are living beyond their means, which makes the issue more pressing overall.
"I spoke to a lady two nights ago, and she saw a rent increase of 35 per cent over two years, so it's actually spiking significantly higher here because the shortage of supply here and the flood last year certainly didn't help matters."
Blenkin and Lingenfelter see rent control helping the economy of the province, because the increased amount of disposable income would allow people to spend more on essentials and for planning for the future.
"All of that money would flow back through the economy, because people who are renting don't tend to take exotic holidays and spend the money outside of the province... It would actually have a very interesting effect on small business, and the income in the small business community," Lingenfelter details.
The other economic advantage would be in encouraging new housing starts. Lingenfelter says that increasing housing starts would add to construction jobs, but also kick start the forestry industry. "It would create a lot of employment in the very area in which we lack jobs, which is in the north. A lot of the First Nations and aboriginal people who do the cutting would be back to work, we would reduce welfare payments, and also create a big stock of affordable housing in the province."
Blenkin says that the Yorkton area needs a larger supply of rental stock simply to allow employers to recruit and expand their business. He suggests the lack of affordable housing is one of the biggest obstacles for recruiting new employees, especially from out of town.
