By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo renters and landlords come together to tackle local housing crisis

Jun 6, 2018 | 10:27 PM

NANAIMO — Though they can sometimes be at odds, both tenants and landlords tried to find ways out of Nanaimo’s tight housing market.

Roughly 50 people took part at a Rental Housing Task Force community meeting on Wednesday night, discussing issues of affordability, the Residential Tenancy Branch and what protections should be in place when a housing situation turns sour.

They were split into renters and rental housing providers, who then discussed various issues and shared their suggestions and solutions to the larger group.

Some solutions were mandatory short term leases, fixed rental increases, more mediators when issues do arise and easier access to the rules and regulations which apply.

MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, the task force chairperson, told NanaimoNewsNOW he was surprised to see so many landlords compared to their first meeting in Maple Ridge.

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“Often in rental situations, it’s the most vulnerable who get stuck with the stereotypical bad landlord and they’re the ones least likely to speak out,” he said, having heard that people may be worried about speaking out against bad landlords for fearing of losing housing opportunities.

Chandra Herbert said it will be difficult wrangling such a substantial and complex issue.

“The pressure on renters on one side has gone up, but the issues landlords are raising are in many cases the same issues they’ve been raising for 20, 30 years, like someone destroying a unit or skipping out on rent.”

Many of the landlords NanaimoNewsNOW spoke to shared stories of landlord friends who’d given up and sold their properties due to stress from bad tenants.

“Is it possible to give people the confidence to rent out those units because we need every bit of housing we can get,” Chandra Herbert asked rhetorically.

Info gathered from the meeting will be compiled in a report due to Premier John Horgan this fall.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit