With all the discussion of house prices, it’s easy to overlook the fact that 60 per cent of the people in the city of Victoria live in rental housing.
The city hasn’t overlooked it, and wants to be sure those people not only have a roof over their heads, but can count on that roof being safe. It proposes rules that would set standards for maintenance of apartment buildings.
The success of the initiative will depend on effective enforcement.
The list seems like the basics of decent housing, but it’s a reminder that for some renters, even the basics can be hard to come by. It includes making sure water from pipes and rain doesn’t leak into the unit; having heat and hot water; controlling pests; having working fire systems; ensuring good ventilation; and having working elevators.
On top of that, the ordinary things such as doors, windows, toilets, sinks, electrical outlets and appliances should work.
Out of 16,733 market-rental units, all but 330 were built before 2000, and most date to the 1960s and 1970s. That means a lot of doors, windows and appliances to maintain.
As Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said: “This isn’t a so-called special interest group or [the] marginalized. This is literally 60 per cent of the population, and I think it’s something we all need to really focus our efforts on.”
That many apartments and that many tenants will take a lot of resources to monitor. If the rules are to benefit renters, they will need some teeth.
