The NDP is calling for a moratorium “on the acquisition of affordable homes by financialized landlords, including REITs and corporate firms” — and for REITs’ tax rebates to instead go into social housing.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday, however, Hussen refused to respond to Kwan’s demand for a moratorium on corporations buying up affordable rental stock.
That’s despite Kwan’s argument that “the 25 largest financialized landlords held more than 330,000 units last year, which is nearly 20 per cent of the country’s private purpose-built stock of rental apartments.”
The problems created by REITs are aggravated by the way corporations frequently snap up low-cost houses and apartments en masse, Kwan said. They then often renovate the units and re-rent them at higher prices. Such practices, Kwan said, contribute to the average rent for a one-bedroom unit coming in at about $2,600 in Metro Vancouver and Greater Toronto.
