NDP promises higher tax credit for Manitoba renters, stricter rules for landlords looking to raise rent
NDP Leader Wab Kinew says party would boost maximum renters credit to $700 a year if elected
Manitoba New Democrats are promising to increase a tax credit for renters and make it harder for landlords to raise rents above the province's annual guideline.
The province currently offers renters a tax credit of up to $525 a year, and NDP Leader Wab Kinew says his party will boost the credit back to $700 if it wins the election slated for Oct. 3.
The PCs reduced the tax credit for renters when it started giving property owners rebates on their education property tax.
Kinew also said an NDP government would limit landlords' ability to apply for a rental increase above the maximum cap.
Landlords can currently seek an increase from the Residential Tenancies Branch, provided they prove the material improvements they made to the property are significant enough that they need higher rents.
In the past, the oversight body has tended to approve rate hikes, giving the OK to every request made in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
"Right now, the balance is tipped entirely in favour of the landlord, and we need to tip the scales back towards … the renter," Kinew said Friday.
"When the average person hears about rent going up 30 per cent, and the justification for that is a new coat of paint, I think the average person thinks well, maybe we could do better than that in Manitoba."
An NDP government would propose a law to ensure above-guideline rent increases are tied to real capital improvements, he said.
"You still have to have respect for the landlords who want to maintain properties and invest in them, but we also need to at least have some semblance of balance for people who are struggling to get by."
Kinew said the new law would be similar to a 2021 private members' bill from the party, which stated landlords could only make an application to the tenancies branch if it incurred "eligible capital expenditures" or an "extraordinary increase in taxes, utilities or security service costs." The PC government didn't support the bill.
Regulation to protect non-profit affordable housing
As well, Kinew committed Friday to develop a regulatory process to ensure affordability is maintained when a non-profit or co-operative tries to divest of buildings that were designed to be affordable housing.
The system could save buildings like the publicly-funded Lions Place from being sold.
After residents and family members raised an uproar over the sale, the provincial government promised $1.2 million in subsidies so residents wouldn't have to pay more in rent over the next two years.
The NDP estimates its new promises for renters would cost $26.7 million annually.
The Progressive Conservatives say they have a record of helping renters.
They froze tenant rents in 2022 and 2023, which was some financial relief for renters after giving all property owners a rebate on their education property tax.
The party also extended its renters' tax credit to the 45,000 Manitobans who are recipients of Rent Assist and not Employment and Income Assistance, as well as those living in social housing.
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With files from Ian Froese