of Kingston City Council accepted the substandard conditions of Queen’s students’ housing, according to Conny Glenn, city councillor of Sydenham District.
The Kingston Special istrative Policies Committee voted against the Residential Rental Licensing pilot program on Jan. 24 at Kingston City Hall. The age of the pilot program would have mandated annual housing inspections of one-to-four-unit residences in the Kingscourt-Rideau and Sydenham Districts, ensuring properties follow municipal and provincial standards. A rental licensing investigation was suggested in 2017 by City officials and picked up again in 2022.
The rental licensing program requires landlords to pay a licensing fee. They have the choice to incorporate this fee into tenants’ rent.
The committee did approve a revision of existing housing bylaws and the implementation of a Residential Rental Registry, detailing the composition of every one-to-four-unit house in the two districts.
AMS Commissioner of External Affairs Julian Mollot-Hill said the move is bad news for student renters.
“I think rental licensing is probably one of the most impactful pilot programs towards fixing [student housing issues]. Because they didn’t vote for [the pilot licensing pilot program], we won’t have the pilot program anytime in the foreseeable future,” Mollot-Hill said in an interview with The Journal.
The pilot program would incentivize landlords to maintain property standards and ensure housing complaints are dealt with in a timely manner, Mollot-Hill explained.
Prior to making the decision, the committee heard from those in favour of the pilot program, including Mollot-Hill, who shared with committee results from a student survey, reporting black mold, rodent infestations, frozen pipes, and no doorknobs in student houses.
Committee also heard from of landlord associations, all of whom disapproved of the pilot program.
“It was very sad to see. There were all these voices speaking on behalf of those who have all the power who own the properties. There were very few voices speaking in defense of tenants,” Mollot-Hill said.
Small landlords, some of whom have Queen’s students as tenants, worried about the cost of the licensing fee. Landlords claimed they’d be forced to increase tenants’ rent to pay for the cost of the license. Mollot-Hill doesn’t agree with their assessment.
“This pilot program would be on a per unit basis so I’m not really sure how it would impact small landlords more than large landlords,” Mollot-Hill said.
In a survey of tenants, with the majority from Williamsville and Sydenham Districts, 38.6 per cent of renters would struggle to pay rent if their landlord ed along the cost of the licensing pilot program to tenants, as detailed in the Residential Rental Licensing report. However, 49.7 per cent of renters believe landlords should be shouldering the fee.
There was no trend in reduction of housing stock in municipalities where the pilot program was implemented, explained Curtis Smith, director of licensing and enforcement for the City, during the meeting.
City Councillor Conny Glenn advocated for the implementation of the pilot program during the committee meeting. Glenn believes students are living in substandard housing.
“Do you want to be studying one night and see a rat run across your floor? Do you want to be worried there’s a fire?” Glenn said. “How do you concentrate [on school] when your health and wellbeing is at risk?”
City councillors Amos, Hassan, and Chaves opposed Glenn, and Ridge and McLaren suggested the health and safety of tenants can be ensured without the pilot program. The tie meant the motion didn’t .
The City Council could overturn this decision at any time, so while the committee decision is a large setback, Mollot-Hill still has hope.
Mollot-Hill wants students to know he is actively advocating for change. He’s currently working with the SGPS on housing advocacy initiatives.
“There are ways to affect this. There are people pushing for change. If you’re ionate about housing, I strongly encourage you get involved in student advocacy or any other tenants’ rights groups in Kingston,” Mollot-Hill said.
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