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Opinion: Editorial was right: Anti-landlord policies will not add one new unit of housing in CT

“Tinkering with the housing bill passed last fall, exacerbated by anti-landlord legislation, will slow problem-solving efforts by government and the private sector alike,” to solve Connecticut’s severe lack of quality apartment homes, the Republican-American’s Editorial Board wrote on Feb. 8 (“Anti-landlord policies would drive up CT’s housing prices”).

We agree. Not only would the proposed rent controls and the return of a twice-rejected bill that would nullify apartment leases drive up prices, they would drive down the number of new and refurbished apartments the private sector is working to build.

Connecticut needs more places to live, and Connecticut’s housing providers continue to believe the answer is rooted in math: Development + renovation = more housing.

As the state begins to implement last November’s sweeping new housing law, legislators should evaluate every proposal this year with this lens: Will it support – and grow – quality, secure housing?

Rent should represent the cost of providing rental housing – including maintenance, repair, upkeep, utility, property taxes, insurance, labor costs, and capital improvement, and those costs are increasing faster than rent increases.

Rent control laws undermine housing supply, causing higher rents in uncontrolled units and reduced quality in controlled units. We urge legislators not to follow that pathway of unintended consequences and oppose arbitrary rent caps.

No one wants to be in an eviction situation – and when the need arises for a landlord to non-renew a lease, people should not consider it as such.  There are times when a landlord needs to non-renew a lease. Sometimes, this is because a tenant violates their lease or creates an unsafe situation that is disruptive or threatening to other apartment residents. The eviction process under Connecticut’s nuisance law is extremely lengthy and uncertain, which leaves “lapse of time” – ending a lease at its termination date – as the only reasonable tool for housing providers to timely address the matter for all who reside in the community, and move on from these tenants. Lapse of time only makes up 7% of evictions recorded in Connecticut, underscoring the fact that a reactive proposal to eliminate this tool won’t support – and grow – quality, secure housing, it will do the opposite.

Accountability is vital to landlord-tenant relationships, and there should be no such thing as an unreachable landlord. Beginning April 1, a new law requires housing providers to provide a standardized rental terms summary form on every lease, listing 24-hour contact information for the property management, this is a much-needed step to accountability, and we continue to support these initiatives and look forward to seeing its success.

Each new session brings the opportunity to evaluate current law – not just introduce new ones. Let’s build on the reforms that were just passed and make it easier to develop and build safe, secure multifamily housing that works for every budget.

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/opinion-editorial-anti-landlord-policies-184500225.html

Author: Kelly Kilham