Rent increase of 5.9%: the PLQ would annul the decision of the Administrative Housing Tribunal

The Liberal Party of Quebec affirms that the government must intervene and act to prevent a 5.9% increase in rents as recommended by the Administrative Housing Tribunal. “We cannot sit idly by,” pleads interim leader Marc Tanguay.

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Tuesday, Liberal housing spokesperson Virginie Dufour wanted Minister France-Hlène Duranceau to quickly table a bill to modify the calculation method of the administrative housing tribunal so that the formula is more representative of reality. .

M^me Dufour criticized the net income formula used by the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) to calculate the increase in rents. According to her, the method “creates an inflationary spiral”.

However, she considered that it was not possible to intervene at this stage to reduce a current increase.

However, its interim leader went much further Wednesday morning, during the conclusion of the Liberal caucus in Orford, in Estrie.

He pleads that the “government can act” and intervene with the TAL by reviewing the recommendation to increase rents by 5.9%.

“The Prime Minister has already done so with hydroelectricity rates. He told the Energy Authority (…) The government has already done it with 3% of hydroelectricity rates,” insisted Marc Tanguay.

He adds that the government can help Quebecers “on an ad hoc basis,” he maintains.

“This rent increase will actually have a major impact on the budget, from July 1,” said Marc Tanguay. “Faced with this, we must review this decision, this impact, and the way of calculating the real income for us does not hold water when we look at the net result.”

To relocate

On Wednesday, the Administrative Housing Tribunal suggested a 5.9% increase in rents, a 30-year high in Quebec. An increase which adds to inflation on goods and services and which strongly affects the grocery basket.

The Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, admitted having few solutions to offer tenants affected by the record increase suggested by the TAL, other than moving.

“It’s difficult, we know, for many tenants at the moment, the real solution to this whole crisis of unaffordability is to increase the supply of housing. This is what I have been trying to say for two years,” the minister commented on Tuesday.