Rental units in Victoria will have to meet basic living standards such as working heat, hot and cold running water and be pest free under a new bylaw to be drafted by the city.
Victoria councillors also directed staff Thursday to develop policies to offer tenants greater protection from eviction due to the renovation or demolition of aging apartment buildings.
Victoria currently has a property maintenance bylaw but it deals only with exterior elements such as unsightliness, graffiti, weeds and water accumulation, and doesn't address interior conditions or health and safety elements of buildings.
City staff are recommending the new standards of maintenance bylaw - which could be enforced against illegal suites as well as apartments - address a relatively lean list of basic building standards including: Ensuring all plumbing, including fixtures, drains, vents, water pipes, toilets and toilet tanks and connecting lines to water and sewer are in good working order and free from leaks.
Requiring functioning heat and hot water so that every hand basin, sink, bathtub, shower have an adequate supply of hot and cold running water. Requiring that the landlord eliminate any pest infestation on the land, building or accessory building. Sprinkler systems, including fire alarm and detection systems, be maintained in good order to ensure fire safety. Doors, windows, sanitation and electrical facilities and appliances identified in the rental agreement are to be maintained in good working order. Coun. Marianne Alto noted that the majority of Victoria residents are renters.
"So to the extent to which we do have authority and capacity, I think it's incumbent upon us to look at how we can make the reality of renting more reasonable and more balanced and fair," Alto said, adding that the staff recommendations represented a "reasonable approach that tries to balance the interests of landlords and tenants."
But others, such as councillors Margaret Lucas and Geoff Young, have reservations.
"I think this is really big.
I think it's way bigger than we should be doing at the municipal level," Lucas said, adding the potential drain on staff resources is enormous in an area that is more properly a provincial responsibility.
"We don't have enough bylaw officers right now to do the things that we need to do as a city and now we're going to add all of this extra," she said.
Tenant relocation policies, which would only apply in cases where properties are being redeveloped, could include measures such as: Encouraging landlords to give notice before before permits are issued. Two months of rent compensation. Possible moving assistance. Consider first right of refusal of improved or new units at a comparable price.
Young agreed that the city should be careful about treading into provincial jurisdiction.
"We have a specific policy in this city of encouraging people to be small-scale landlords through building carriage houses or secondary suites. And I think we have to be reasonable in the requirements we put on them," Young said.
He agreed the province may be the best authority to legislate tenancy protections such as closing eviction loopholes and requirements for notice. "I think exactly the same arguments could be made with regard to the standards of maintenance bylaw." Coun. Ben Isitt said the city can't afford to wait on senior governments.
"The existing stock of rental housing in the city isn't getting any newer. The OCP [Official Community Plan] is crystal clear that a key part of our affordable housing policy is to retain and renew these properties so, I think, to kick the ball down the court waiting for potential provincial or federal legislative action I don't think is supportable."
The new bylaw and policy recommendations are expected to be ready for consideration by council by March.
