Ontario housing decision could affect HRM: councillor
Posted Dec 18, 2009 06:01:38 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An Ontario court case involving student housing could have serious implications for Halifax.
The City of Oshawa took several landlords to court after they bought 30 homes and then rented the rooms to post-secondary students.
The courts ruled the landlords had broken a law that bans lodging houses in residential areas. The landlords’ appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed.
South End Coun. Sue Uteck tells CBC she’s worried by the court ruling which stated that the homes should be used by one family, not a temporary group of people.
She says there are dozens of buildings in Halifax with up to five tenants on leases.
Uteck says she’s asked city lawyers to be ready to amend zoning laws if they hear of a similar challenge.
