A new year, a new start…

A Message from Lisa…

It is the beginning of a brand-new start… I love January for that reason.

The most recent release of CMHC’s Fall Calgary Rental Market Report indicates there was an improvement in the rental market during 2017; although marginal, the vacancy rate decreased to 6.3% from 7% from the previous year. There were also several matters relating to the rental marketplace under review and being worked on including the January 2017 case which resulted in the provincial government to amend the Human Rights Act to include ‘age’ as a protected ground for condominiums… there is a one year period to develop amendments including any exemptions related to age restrictions.  If you are interested in submitting your input to effect change, please click here: http://albertansforchoice.com/ It is likely the changes may mostly impact ‘adult only’ residential complexes including those for seniors. If a residential complex currently has no restrictions based on age, it will not be impacted and current owners and tenants are grandfathered if a condominium complex is currently under an age restriction.

On a different note, the 2016 Private Member’s Bill 202, Affordable Housing Review Act did not proceed through the legislature. The bill aimed to target the residential rental industry, specifically targeting rent regulation (rent controls) and security deposits. We are extremely pleased that this bill did not pass as it was a threat, in our view, to both landlords and tenants.

Other initiatives… one is related to changes in the disposal of both food and yard waste. Citysearch is communicating these to our tenants in both condominiums and single family homes. In addition, Canada has enacted new legislation imposing regulations on corded window coverings for safety to protect children from the threat of strangulation. The legislation will restrict cord length, cord loop length and impose new product warnings. There are numerous options available to address these concerns even cordless motorized covering products.

Till next month,

• Lisa Hamielec
• Broker
• Citysearch Rental Network Inc.