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

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."

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.

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 on Information 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 12 per 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.

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.  

Those involved 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 Tribunal the 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.

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 and up 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."