Kitchener council votes to study Lower Doon student housing

Kitchener city council's planning and strategic initiatives committee voted Monday night to look at ways to improve student rental housing standards in the Lower Doon area near Conestoga College on Monday.

Councillors voted in favour of staff recommendations to explore alternatives to a residential licensing program. Those alternatives include stepping up the enforcement the existing rules and developing a formal relationship with the Doon area’s landlord association.

The measures are meant to improve student housing and also deal with parking and property maintenance problems, that come along with large numbers of rental properties.

Ward 4 Coun.Yvonne Fernandes says she is concerned about the safety of properties that house multiple students.

"There are a great number of landlords who live out of town and have no idea what the property standards are, what’s going on in these houses, the safety issues and it’s becoming quite a big problem," said Fernandes.

She said the landlords often live in other communities like Burlington, Toronto and Hamilton, or even out of the country, and aren’t checking in on their properties.

"The lawns aren’t being cut, the garbage isn’t being collected, the driveways aren’t being shoveled. Things are falling apart in the house and there’s nobody there to be on top of it," said Fernandes.

Fernandes says she's also worried about noise and garbage issues.

The Kitchener Fire Department estimates about 80 single detached dwellings are being used as student rental properties  in the Lower Doon area.