But first it has to go to City Council on April 26, so there's nothing appeal yet. The final Council vote can also include amendments, so no-one should be counting their chickens yet.

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I wonder what impact the unexpected application of Rent Control as announced today by Kathleen Wynne will have on Westbank and all other developers of planned and much needed new residential rental stock. Will it change their plans to proceed? Will they instead take the condo route?
 
Quite possibly.

It might make rental units no longer desirable for developers.

I think we'll see how things pan out in the coming months to year (if developers are waiting and seeing how the Liberals do in the 2018 election)
 
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Christopher Brown said:
I wonder what impact the unexpected application of Rent Control as announced today by Kathleen Wynne will have on Westbank and all other developers of planned and much needed new residential rental stock. Will it change their plans to proceed? Will they instead take the condo route?
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Renting in the GTA is about to become hell over the next few years. But if you manage to get a unit and stay there, things are looking up.
 
Westbank is still free to set their own rents when tenants move in, just limited by how much they can raise them for existing tenants.
 
It really depends on the type of unit. I don't think it'll affect the rentals that are targeted at students and young professionals since they rarely stay for longer than a few years, but family-oriented rentals might take a much bigger hit.
 
I'd walk away from rentals if I were a developer. What if a future government imposes a policy of no rent increases in order to get elected? It adds politics to the list of uncertainties that you need to deal with when deciding to invest. Much better to go the condo route, take your money and let others worry about what you can charge.
 
rentals have always been that way - there has always been risk in government control, which is happening now.

I can't imagine the government would drop it to straight up no rent increases. That doesn't really exist anywhere. Inflationary increases are already rather strict.

The liberals are only doing this to try and shore up support. They are flinging populist policies at the wall all over the place and hoping some stick.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The liberals are only doing this to try and shore up support. They are flinging populist policies at the wall all over the place and hoping some stick.
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Yup. A rent control policy that will actually hurt renters, and a foreign buyers tax that will hurt many foreign nationals who are not (yet) permanent residents. Some of these people will be eligible for a "rebate," but will apparently have to pay up front. Populism 101: blame foreigners.
 
Waterloo_Guy said:
Yup. A rent control policy that will actually hurt renters, and a foreign buyers tax that will hurt many foreign nationals who are not (yet) permanent residents. Some of these people will be eligible for a "rebate," but will apparently have to pay up front. Populism 101: blame foreigners.
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I am not sure why we should be concerned about foreign nationals who are not yet (if they ever intend to be) permanent residents. It's like someone worrying over universities charging extra for international students because of what?

innsertnamehere said:
rentals have always been that way - there has always been risk in government control, which is happening now.

I can't imagine the government would drop it to straight up no rent increases. That doesn't really exist anywhere. Inflationary increases are already rather strict.

The liberals are only doing this to try and shore up support. They are flinging populist policies at the wall all over the place and hoping some stick.
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There is some perversity in restricting rent control to buildings by year of completion though - it's a pretty sub-optimal way of dealing with it.

AoD
 
CityPlaceN1 said:
What if a future government imposes a policy of no rent increases in order to get elected? It adds politics to the list of uncertainties that you need to deal with when deciding to invest.
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What if a future government proposes a 100% tax rate? A leading French presidential candidate is proposing that for personal incomes - 100% taxation with no tax credits for income over 450,000 Euros. They aren't going to just abandon the planet because it's not out of the realm of possibility.

CityPlaceN1 said:
Much better to go the condo route, take your money and let others worry about what you can charge.
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Developers go where the money is. Condo money isn't flush like it used to be and REIT money is making a comeback.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
I am not sure why we should be concerned about foreign nationals who are not yet (if they ever intend to be) permanent residents. It's like someone worrying over universities charging extra for international students because of what?
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For a few reasons. First of all because many of them contribute to our country and economy and we should avoid measures that would dissuade them from coming. Even if they don't stay forever, they are valuable while they are here. It also strikes me as unfair since these people are not speculators but are living in the units while they work or study here.

Edit: This is the last I'll say on the subject since I doubt I will persuade anyone anyway. But I think Wynne appealed to the worst part of our nature. The impact of foreign buyers is widely believed to be minimal; the real reason for this policy is obvious, and I suspect it will win her votes.
 
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amnesiajune said:
What if a future government proposes a 100% tax rate? A leading French presidential candidate is proposing that for personal incomes - 100% taxation with no tax credits for income over 450,000 Euros. They aren't going to just abandon the planet because it's not out of the realm of possibility.
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They will simply leave the country. France in 2016 already has one of the highest rates of millionaires emigrating, likely largely due to the perceived trajectory of the country.
 
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