New home construction in Regina is booming at a level not seen in 40 years, but it’s likely of little comfort to those at the bottom of the housing ladder.
Even if there is a “trickle-down effect” of some renters buying their own homes and freeing up apartments, many on minimum wage or social assistance simply can’t afford shelter in a city where average rents are around $750 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Still, any growth in housing stock that ultimately eases Regina’s rental vacancy rate of less than one per cent will help, particularly during the current period of population growth as migrants and immigrants move to the city. So it’s encouraging to see housing starts up by almost 25 per cent this year, to 1,140 in the first nine months compared with 921 for the same period last year.
Of this year’s total so far, 450 are multifamily units (semi-detached, row houses and apartments), a 15-per-cent increase over the 390 multi-family starts in the same period in 2010.

Though the lack of “affordable housing” has become a hot issue in the past year or so, both realtors and advocates for those on low or fixed incomes generally agree the term really only applies to the rental sector since Regina’s new and used private stock is still considered affordable compared with other Canadian cities. And with mortgage rates at bargain-basement rates, many first-time buyers have been able to start climbing the ladder of home ownership.

For those who must rent, the story is very different. As a recent feature article in the Leader-Post’s Weekender section revealed, there’s a growing problem of homelessness in this city. The lucky one’s “couch surf ” in the homes of relatives or friends. Others bed down in emergency shelters — or sleep rough in parks, alleys and other public places. The latter option will soon disappear when winter arrives.

It’s not surprising that provincial politicians are being lobbied to address the rental housing issue during the current election campaign and it will be interesting to see what proposals there are in the various policy platforms. There’s certainly no shortage of ideas, including rent controls, tax incentives to encourage the construction of rental housing and higher shelter allowances for those on low or modest incomes.

Innovative ideas should be considered. For example, some cities in the U.K. have offered temporary low-rental housing to encourage the migration of in-demand skilled workers. Though this would require a significant provincial government investment in social housing if implemented in Regina, Saskatoon and other cities, predictions of future labour shortages as baby boomers retire suggest it could be an enticing benefit for prospective newcomers.

Decent, affordable shelter is a basic human need. We look forward to a vigorous debate on this important issue during the election campaign.

To read articles referring to Rent Control, click on the link to Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario.  www.frpo.org 

Then click on topics and issues on the top bar. 

Following is a letter to the editor from SRHIA, published on  April 6, 2011 

The Editors

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Dear Sirs,

RE: RENT CONTROL

If David Forbes’ call for “intelligent, second-generation rent controls” (SP April 6 “Rent controls required”) to address housing affordability is such a great idea then why stop there.  If indeed as Forbes himself notes “costs for food, gas and utilities are rising, too” then NDP imposed price controls on these items would make them more affordable as well!  Add in price controls on clothing, vehicles and TVs to the mix and they will have most of the necessities covered, benefitting everybody.

Of course, no one would take seriously such a policy proposal because we know intuitively that price controls cannot create prosperity out of thin air.  Rather, price controls inevitably lead to shortages and/or deterioration of the quality of the product.  With ample rental housing available in Saskatoon (over 1,000 listings on Kijiji) governments should let the market sort out demand and supply while taking steps to ensure that low-income households are given additional purchasing power so they can obtain the housing they require.

Yours truly,

Chanda Lockhart; President

Saskatchewan Rental Housing Industry Association

A Brief History—Manitoba’s most archaic and dysfunctional policy, rent controls were originally imposed by the NDP government of Edward Schreyer in 1976 as a temporary, inflation-control measure. In 1977, a Conservative government under Sterling Lyon defeated the NDP, and his housing minister, Gary Filmon, led the charge to remove rent controls. Rents spiked upwards, and that contributed to that government’s loss of power in the 1981 election. When the Tories returned to power under Filmon’s leadership in 1988, his government was so frightened by this history that it left the controls untouched. The present NDP government, elected in 1999, has made minor fiddles to the rent control policy, with little amelioration of its negative effects.

Analysis—Over time, controls on rents had predictable effects on Winnipeg’s supply of rental units. Confirming economic theory, they curtailed supply, as landlords and investors simply stopped investing in additional apartment units. No affordable units were added by the private sector for years and many existing ones were withdrawn from the market. Subsidized public housing programs have been the only source of new units in the low-to-medium price range. Despite some recent construction, the total supply of apartment units continues to decline due to condominium conversions and the condemnation of unfit units. Between 1998 and 2005, the stock in Winnipeg declined from 54,924 units to 53,046, a fall in supply in the range of 4%.

Rent controls delay and defer investment in upgrades and normal maintenance, by keeping the return on apartments below normal market returns. The result has been an increasingly ramshackle stock of apartments in Winnipeg. As most North American cities experience a centre-city renaissance with the construction of thousands of housing units, Winnipeg, whose downtown has arguably one of the highest potentials for residential redevelopment, has been left sitting on the housing sidelines. At the same time, governments have frantically poured millions in subsidies into downtown arenas and government office buildings, in a desperate and ineffective attempt to stop downtown decline. One of Manitoba’s relatively few success stories—more immigration—is also under pressure because of the lack of rental housing stock.

What would happen if the policy were terminated? In 1992, Saskatchewan’s NDP government quietly passed amendments to the province's Residential Tenancies Act that ended rent control in that province. Rents did not skyrocket; average rents held flat as supply grew. The most recent information on apartment rents and vacancy rates on the Prairies provides sufficient evidence that the best friend of tenants is the free market:

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Conclusion—Manitoba’s rent control policies strangle the supply and quality of available apartments and unnecessarily increase their price. Saskatchewan, with no controls, enjoys lower rents and substantially more supply. It is time to learn from Saskatchewan and end rent control in Manitoba.

SOURCE: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation