Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin May
I did the numbers on a rental project. The landlord would be making out like a bandit if the new rules were not in place. Now he'll just do very well. Cheap money is readily available, well under 2% for 5 year money. If any developer starts singing the blues ask him to provide the financial details. Or check the mortgage documents available at the Registry of Deeds, that is a good place to start. ( In Britain financial statements are available from filings with a government agency.)
|
This is not really getting at the problems of rent control, many of which affect tenants.
One problem is that it doesn't follow the tenant, so people get locked into specific apartments. Got a job at the other end of town? I guess you're taking the bus for an hour, because you won't want to move and get hit by a huge rent increase. Or maybe your household size changed and a different unit would suit you better? Too bad.
It also favours people who have lived in an apartment for a long time over new tenants, regardless of economic background. The middle aged wealthy South End renter will tend to get the biggest subsidy from this policy.
And as already mentioned it's a disincentive to improve units so once you move in to a place, maintenance and upgrades will be near nil. It's worse than just landlords not wanting to spend money because bad maintenance encourages turnover in tenants. You renovated and get a new tenant, then you let the place fall apart for 5-10 years, then they move out, then you renovate and get a new tenant. Good luck going after the landlord for this as a poor tenant.
As a builder you can avoid all this by building condo instead of rental. This is how it works in Toronto and Vancouver.
But most people will think of this in terms of how much money landlords "should" charge for rent.