VIDEO: Rental horror stories leads city to consider ban on new basement suites and ARUs in Brampton

Multiple cases of “slumlord squalor” and a viral video of a noisy construction site in Brampton have the city looking pause construction on all basement suites and additional rental units across the city until next year.

The sweeping halt was proposed by Coun. Dennis Keenan on Wednesday and looks to crack down on international students living in “slum landlord conditions,” but could end up stopping work on all ARU housing projects across Brampton.

The motion calls on city staff to map out “student overflow zones” in Brampton and, depending on the findings, would stop the approval of ARU approvals until the end of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Brampton has called on its academic institutions to build and provide housing for its students, like Algoma University’s planned 500-bed student living facility announced, and has introduced a rental licensing program to crack down on illegal and overcrowded units.

Keenan says more needs to be done to protect students whose housing conditions have them living “like animals” and brought the motion to council following an incident in Brampton where he says approximately 14 students were evacuated from a home due to a fire call, and a viral video of a Brampton construction site supposedly being renovated for international student housing.

POV

You live in Brampton

and a speculator is turning your neighbour’s single home into student housing for 20

No hardhats. No fencing. No permits posted. Nothing.

Welcome to 2024. pic.twitter.com/TfjIgdoKHn

— Tablesalt 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@Tablesalt13) August 28, 2024

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Keenan showed pictures of the evacuated students’ belongings and suitcases piled on the home’s lawn and said its just the latest case of overcrowding reported in Brampton.

He also raised concerns over an online ad offering free rent for a “friends-with-benefits relationship,” and Coun. Rowena Santos says there have been cases of female students “prostituted for rent.”

The councillor for Wards 3 and 4 has been the target of protests by landlords opposed to the city’s new rental licensing program but says the pushback has done nothing to sway his support of the rollout.

Suitcases can be seen on the front lawn of a home in Brampton following a fire call where international students were living, says Coun. Dennis Keenan.

“You can protest me, you can protest anything you want. The issues in and around our post secondary institutions around ARUs is out of control,” he said.

Staff are expected to bring the student overflow zones “based on data from complaints” to council for consideration at a meeting next week when the ARU stoppage could be approved.

But Brampton Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor raised concerns with the proposal, saying it could impact residents doing ARU renovations or construction that have nothing to do with international students.

City staff said they have no way to track if ARU applications it receives will be used for students housing, and Toor declined supporting the motion saying it would hurt Brampton’s overall housing targets.

Brampton has called on both the federal and provincial governments to overhaul international student and academic housing, including urging the province to more than double the Heads and Beds levy from $75 to $158 per student – a move that council said could result in $117 million for the city every year.