Saint John landlord seeks 15 per cent rent hike from dozens of tenants - Action News
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New Brunswick

Saint John landlord seeks 15 per cent rent hike from dozens of tenants

Dick Parker,79, has lived with his wife in the same uptown Saint John apartment building for 21 years. Two weeks ago they received notice from their landlord of a 15 per cent increase in rent come October even the company said after a 2020 purchase tenants "don't have to worry" about rent increases.

Historica bought multiple buildings in 2020, assured tenants they didn't 'have to worry' about big rent hikes

A man standing in front of two posters about wood construction and three flags.
Keith Brideau, president of Historica, now says many of the units in buildings bought by company are underpriced for the market and the company needs to be charging more to help with rising expenses. (CBC)

Dick Parker is 79.

He and his wife have lived in the same uptown Saint John apartment building for 21 years.

Two weeks ago they received notice from their landlord of a 15 per cent increase in rent come October.

"You know, the amounts are damn near $150.00 a month," said Parker about the increase.

"I think it's outrageous."

A man wearing a navy blue coat standing in front of a blue building while holding onto the rail by the steps to the doorway.
Dick Parker is planning to challenge the 15 per cent rent-hike notice he received from his landlord, Historica. 'It's outrageous,' he said. (Robert Jones/CBC)

Parker's apartment building is one of several that were part of a 150-unit purchase in 2020 by Historica Six GP Inc. and Historica Six Limited Partnership.

Historica is one of the city's largest landlords, and up to 75 tenants in several of the buildings that were part of that sale have gotten similar notices in the past several days.

Kristina Hobson lives in the seven-storey McArthur building on Germain Street.Her notice is also for a 15 per cent increase, and she said every long-term tenant she knows in the building received a similar letter.

"For me, 15 per cent was quite a drastic increase," said Hobson.

"Our building had quite a strong reaction. Many people have lived in the building for quite a long time and we have quite a few older people who live there, so there's quite a few fixed incomes."

That is not what longer term tenants were told to expect from Historica's president Keith Brideau when he purchased the properties 30 months ago.

A blue apartment building with windows lining the front of the building
This six-unit apartment building on King Street East is one of 20 bought by Historica in 2020. (Robert Jones/CBC)

At the time, he gave a number of interviews suggesting tenants in those buildings need not be concerned about receiving large rent hikes from him.

"They don't have to worry about it," Brideau said about the renters he was inheriting in the sale, in an interview onInformation Morning Saint John at the time.

"I grew up in the north end.I know personally that its not easy for people to pay $1,200 or $1,500 a month.But at the same time those very people that can't afford it deserve a nice roof over their head. What we're looking forward to is actually taking care of the people more in that $500 to $1,000 price range."

Last year tenants in the affected buildings were protected by a hard rent cap in New Brunswick and were charged increases by Historica of 3.8 per cent.

Those caps have been eliminated this year.That means the proposed new 15 per cent increase will see those who have been tenants since the sale paying about 19 per cent more in October than they were in 2020.

Inflation in New Brunswick since the sale has been slightly more than 12per cent.

In an interview Tuesday, Brideau said he is facing increased costs for a number of expenses, including maintenance, heat, insurance, labour and debt financing.

"We are not immune to inflation," he said.

A tall brick apartment building with a red car parked in front of it
The McArthur is a seven-storey brick apartment building on Saint John's Germain Street. Several tenants received rent increase notices of 15 per cent, according resident Kristina Hobson. 'Our building had quite a strong reaction,' she said. (Robert Jones/CBC)

According to Brideau, all tenants who have been renting in any of his buildings for more than one year have been issued notices for some kind of October increase, and he estimated between 50 and 75 those were for the full 15 per cent.

Thoseinvolved people who are paying amounts "significantly" below current market rents, he said, and argued he is not breaking any pledge he made to keep what they pay in check by what he is now proposing.

"It's only fair we bump those up a little bit," said Brideau."I have to be fair to our business as well.I want to make sure I can pay my bills."

Changes in rental rules made by the province for this year do allow landlords to raise rents to "market" levels which have risen sharply over the last three years.But if that involves an increase above inflation, the province has given officers with the Residential Tenancies Tribunalthe authority to require the increase be phased in over multiple years.

In neighbouring provinces, the rules are much different.

Landlords in Nova Scotia this year are limited to 2 per cent increases, and in Prince Edward Island a rent freeze is in effect.

A close-up of a piece of paper detailing a rent increase
Dick Parker's rent increase notice said he will be charged $148.69 extra per month, or $1,784.28 per year more, beginning Oct. 1. It called the change 'necessary.' (Robert Jones/CBC)

Quebec does not have a firm cap on rent but the province's housing tribunal calculates an annual recommended basic increase.For 2023, it said 2.3 per cent is fair for an unheated apartment andup to 7.3 per cent for a building that includes heat from an oil furnace.

Dick Parker said he is planning to formally challenge his increase at the province's Residential Tenancies Tribunal but would like the province to exercise more authority over what landlords do.

"I think there should be some some control on rent," said Parker.

" A 15 per cent increase to me is outrageous. The only ones that can do anything about it, of course, is the government."

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