Oshawa’s anti-student housing bylaw: complete failure

newsdurhamregion.com ran a story today on the failure of Oshawa’s controversial anti-student housing bylaw.

As predicted, the bylaw has created a student housing crisis with only 11 houses near the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College being approved by the city.

The city received 201 license applications, however, they only approved 11 licenses.

It is estimated that over 500 rental houses are located near the university and 2,500 students are currently residing in those houses.

With an estimated 300 landlords ignoring the bylaw, the city is facing a problem.

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With thousands of students living in illegal houses facing eviction, the city is considering granting another reprieve from the full brunt of the bylaw. The student union is demanding a guarantee that students will not be removed from their houses during the school year. On the other side, local resident homeowners are opposed to any reprieve.

During the rush to pass the anti-student housing bylaw, the City of Oshawa was repeatedly warned of the consquences of their actions and told they were creating a housing crisis. Surprise, the housing crisis is here and once again, the City seems to be rushing to find a band-aid to cover up its own poor planning.

While the city considers a reprieve, the local developer Tribune Homes and some resident homeowners are threatening further legal action to force the city to enforce the bylaw.