The leader of the Green Party of Quebec, Alex Tyrrell, spoke this Saturday, August 27, in Montreal, to present the candidacy of Véronique Langlois, official candidate of the Green Party for the 2022 provincial election, in the riding of Mercier. Together, they took a public stand on a very important issue at the provincial level, namely the whole question of the housing crisis. In Quebec, apartment rents have increased by an average of 16% since 2020 in metropolitan areas, well above the annual inflation rate of 4.7%. The Green Party of Quebec’s housing policy calls for structural changes in the real estate market that will give tenants the opportunity to own their own homes, stop real estate speculation, and protect tenants from abuse by large housing companies. The Green Party of Quebec intends to put forward this policy during the election as a solution to the housing crisis.
The leader of the Green Party of Quebec took the opportunity to clarify the party’s position on the housing crisis. The Green Party of Quebec wants to expropriate all rental units owned by real estate companies that have more than ten units. These units will be paid at 80% of their pre-pandemic value and will become the property of a new government corporation: Habitations Québec. The people who live in the units will have two options; either to buy their unit for the amount Habitations Québec paid or to continue to rent it, but this time with an option to buy. The tenants who become owners will pay certain maintenance fees for the building; the equivalent of the condo fees in cost. Tenants will have a portion of their rent covered for maintenance costs, while the remainder of their rent will be put into a savings account that can be used to purchase the unit, return to school, retire or purchase a property outside of the Habitations Québec program. The PVQ believes that such a policy would provide an opportunity to solve the housing crisis in Quebec.
