Raise the Hammer

Whats to stop the license fees from being dumped on to he renter along with any needed improvements? Nothing. We already have an affordable housing issue. I know within 5 years since the last time I looked the average rent has gone up while the size shrank. Adding more costs will just make them even more expensive.

And how does a license work if they simply rent and not tell the city? If found and the city comes down on them who is going to be rendered homeless? Not the owner. The Renter again pays.

It seems this is more about Nimbyism than any real care for renters. Even the article talks about "undesireable" activity which is not the same as illegal.

It is natural that if you are going to have a school that the students are going to want to live close and that is Westdale for Mac students.

Maybe if more thought was given to how much people charge for rent then perhaps it would be more affordable and less cramming would occur. I don't think any student likes the idea of overcrowding a small unit but do so as they cannot afford not to.

These ideas are all coming from owners who are not facing the same challenges renters and people of limited means are, you would do better to try to come up with a solution by renters. Or better a combination of both but with equal say from all renters to find out the diverse needs and accommodate them in a safe, fair manner to all.

For so far, all I see instead are home owners trying to impose rules on how renters are "allowed" in their neighbourhood.

That being said more rules regarding properties owned by absent landlords are needed on both sides of this issue. Rules though, not fees unless they are consequences and the offending property is not allowed to raise the rent to cover them. And such items would be necessary changes not simply superficial ones to make properties look better to raise rents.