Tensions were high in the Duncan McArthur Hall auditorium when Queen’s Community Housing and the Queen’s Community Housing Residents Association (QCHRA) met to discuss policy changes and surprise rent increases.
Queen’s Executive Director (Housing & Ancillary Services) Leah Wales and Community Housing Manager Adam King held the meeting with representatives from QCHRA on March 6 to present a slate of what Community Housing called “Fair Access Policy Changes” to community housing.
Wales said the proposed policy changes are meant to offer better access to community housing for graduate students. The changes include implementing a lottery system to allow more equitable access for housing, fixed lease terms that last the standard length of a tenant’s program, refined eligibility requirements, and a set number of units allocated to postdoctoral fellows.
Wales announced rent to all units in An Clachan and John Orr will be increasing over a three-year period. In December 2023, tenants received letters under their doors disclosing a 10.5 per cent rent increase, which is four times above the legal provincial guidelines. Queen’s is exempt from the provincial guidelines when increasing their rents.
The rent increases will allow Community Housing to continue to offer quality housing below market value while keeping up with maintenance costs for aging buildings, Wales claimed. Community Housing currently runs a $57,000 deficit.
Though members of the QCHRA knew about the looming 10.5 per cent rent increase set to begin in September 2024, news of a three-year 31.5 per cent increase—35 per cent when compounded—came as a surprise.
“I almost cried on stage. It feels like a gut punch to be honest,” Jake Morrow, QCHRA member and PhD candidate in English told The Journal after the event. “I don’t know I can finish my PhD with those numbers.”
QCHRA objected to all rental changes, and claimed the University’s rental increases are illegal, per section 120(1) of the Ontario Residencies Act. According to this legislation, any rent increase above 2.4 per cent must be agreed upon by landlords and tenants through consultations.
Though Queen’s offers a slate of housing for students to live in during their studies below market price, low turnover rates at An Clachan Housing Complex and John Orr Tower make it difficult for new students to find housing in Kingston, according to Wales and King.
In 2022, available units in An Clachan and John Orr were filled within 30 minutes of the application portal opening. The new policies would allow all hopeful tenants fair access to an affordable home.
Community Housing alleged some tenants of community housing abuse the system and sublet units at An Clachan and John Orr for higher prices to earn a profit, with King saying he learned about one instance of such abuse last week. Several residents attending the event asked him to elaborate on how abuses of rentals occur.
“These situations are often identified from unit inspections, unusual requests to add occupants/sublets, online listings, or reports from other tenants,” Community Housing said in a statement to The Journal.
Several QCHRA members demanded Community Housing reconsider lease terms be fixed to standard program lengths, stipulated as two years for Master’s programs and four years for PhD programs. Many students don’t finish their PhDs in four years, several members explained at the event. Several members said this would restrict access from students who can’t afford Kingston’s housing market prices.
Getting Community Housing to agree to an open session consultation with tenants about proposed policy changes was difficult, Morrow said. He said the University unilaterally decided on a date and time for the meeting outside proposed meeting times set forth by the QCHRA, a move QCHRA believes was meant to stifle communication between the two bodies.
QCHRA wants to see more transparent practices from Community Housing and hopes Community Housing listens to QCHRA members in good faith.
“We’d like to see a move away from the ‘we’re presenting to you’ energy to more ‘we’re coming to the table,’” QCHRA member and postdoctoral fellow Chloe Stewart said. “She [Wales] said this so many times, but we want an actual ‘we’re listening’ and not a ‘I’m listening, I’m hearing I’m emphasizing.’ It all felt fake. Obviously she isn’t listening or hearing or empathizing, and you could tell.”
Community Housing said they would post the slides from the consultation meeting to the their website. Moving forward, they will consider additional channels for tenant feedback and will continue to communicate with all tenants.
Tags
An Clachan, Community housing, housing, rent
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