[URBAN NOTE] "Proposal to licence Toronto rooming houses will face stiff opposition"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Betsy Powell shares some of the arguments being made against the recognition of Toronto rooming houses throughout the broader city. I am unimpressed with the claims of regulatory burdens: Allowing legal lacunae to persist, to the detriment of renters, is terrible.

City staff is proposing a zoning and licensing regime for rooming houses across Toronto, a contentious move certain to face stiff opposition in the suburbs where many operate illegally.

[. . .]

“It’s a litany of complaints, they don’t want these houses regulated, they want them to be abolished,” said Norm Kelly, (Ward 40, Scarborough-Agincourt.)

Kelly said anything that adds a regulatory burden and increases the costs for many rooming house operators will “work against a workable licensing system.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me in doing this that in the end you’re going to be getting more illegal (rooming houses) rather than under the proposed guidelines.”

Councillor Jim Karygiannis (Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt), said he favors regulation to “guarantee (an) absolute safe environment for the tenants.”

But unless city inspectors can access properties and impose strict penalties, many operators will go underground.