HALIFAX—Regional council will consider creating a rental unit registry, including a database of non-compliant properties, under a new plan recommended ahead of a meeting next week.

The motion for council’s consideration at its meeting on Tuesday recommends amending Bylaw M-200, which governs standards for residential properties in Halifax, to “include provisions for mandatory registration of residential rental accommodations.” The city would also release data about investigations into violations of the bylaw on the municipal open data site.

“This new registration and violation data will provide decision making information to tenants looking for suitable housing,” wrote municipal staffers Matt Covey, division chief of fire prevention, and Sergio Grbac, supervisor of building standards, buildings and compliance, in the report to council.

“Registered owners of well-maintained and compliant rentals will also benefit from this exposure as they will not have any cases linked to them.”

The motion comes on the heels of a similar pitch earlier this week: the announcement that an industry group, the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS), is creating a landlord registry of its own. IPOANS’ program will also include a certification process to train landlords and their employees on the provincial Residential Tenancies Act.

The municipality, if council approves bylaw amendments associated with the plan, would require building owners to register and supply information including their contact, the number of units and bedrooms rented, the number of occupants per bedroom, accessibility features, fire safety systems and more.

After the bylaw amendments passed, owners would have six months to register their units, and those who don’t register would face fines.

The plan would also mean more proactive building inspections, using historical data and complaints to flag certain buildings.

“This would improve conditions for all tenants and reduce the number of complaints and consequently the number of visits required by the inspector,” Covey and Grbac wrote in the report.

The proposed amendments stem from a council request for a staff report in 2013 about licensing landlords.

The motion asked staff to consider programs like the one in London, Ont., implemented in 2011, which was designed to “address substandard housing conditions in rental units and Airbnbs to protect the amenity, character, and stability of residential areas.”

In June 2016, Halifax regional council directed staff to consult with stakeholders on that program, and a contractor, Stantec Consulting Ltd., completed the work in May 2017.

“Licensing was unanimously not recommended by the workshop groups, for many reasons, but mainly due to associated costs,” the report says. “While not in favour of licensing, several points and concerns made by stakeholders would fit into a lower cost option, which is registration combined with amendments to Bylaw M-200 to improve enforcement and target it toward problem buildings.”

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There’d be no costs for property owners with the proposed changes, but the costs to the municipality are uncertain. The bylaw amendments and data posting can be done within existing budgets, but Halifax may have to hire employees. For example, the report says they may need to hire two assistant building officials at a total annual cost of $147,000.

If council approves the motion on Tuesday, staff will prepare the bylaw amendments and come back for first and second readings.

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