In London, Ontario, housing affordability challenges are driving prolonged rental market participation, leaving tenants vulnerable to renovictions—illegitimate evictions masked as necessary renovations. 

With over 153 reported cases of renovictions from 2017 to 2021, the City of London has taken proactive steps by introducing a Rental Unit Repair License to safeguard tenants and close gaps in existing provincial protections.

What is renoviction? 

Renovictions have increased over the past few years. Renoviction occurs when a landlord illegitimately evicts a tenant by claiming that the property needs to be vacant for extensive renovations. It is an eviction done in bad-faith. 

While the province’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) provides a legal framework for such evictions, enforcement challenges have led cities like Hamilton, London, and Toronto to introduce or explore renoviction-specific by-laws. 

How can a landlord evict a tenant for renovation?

Under Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), landlords may evict tenants if the unit needs major repairs or renovations that cannot be completed while it is occupied. Read How Ontatrio’s Residential Tenancies Act Prevents Renovictions to learn more about this.

To initiate an eviction process, landlords must issue a Form N13: Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord Wants to Demolish the Rental Unit, Repair it, or Convert it to Another Use.

The landlord must then follow the rules set by the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to ensure compliance with the law. This legal framework provides tenants with safeguards, such as adequate notice and the right to challenge the eviction if it appears to be in bad faith.

Housing Affordability in London

A 2021 analysis of London’s local housing market carried out by the City found that stagnant wages and increasing cost of houses prevented renters from transitioning to homeownership. As a result, they remain in the rental market longer. Demand grew faster than supply, making rentals less affordable.

At the same time, according to renoviction statistics from the tenant advocacy group ACORN, London had 153 renoviction filings with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) from 2017 to 2021, ranking it as the fifth highest in Ontario.

London Approves Renoviction Bylaw

Following suit from New Westminster, Hamilton, and Burnaby, the City of London in March 2024 presented a 25-page Initial Research Report on Renovictions to City Council. 

[ Read About New Westminster's Renoviction Bylaw]

The City of London’s renovictions report explains that:

“...we are witnessing several forms of structural displacement in London, including but not limited to formal and informal, real and ‘bad faith’ evictions based on renovations but driven by the potential for increased profit.
While this is not the typical behaviour for most London landlords, the renoviction phenomenon does draw attention to loopholes and shortfalls within the existing Provincial system and provides evidence as to why the City of London may consider exploring a renoviction and relocation style by-law similar to Hamilton’s proposal.”

London’s Rental Unit Repair License 

Following this, on 24 September 2024, London City Council approved a Rental Unit Repair License to protect tenants and prevent unfair renovictions. This license is set to take effect in March 2025. 

The license is added as an additional schedule to the City’s existing Business Licensing Bylaw.  This table below summarizes the protections against renovictions in Schedule 23, Rental Unit License.

Conclusion 

London’s rising renovictions reflect broader housing affordability issues, with demand for rentals outpacing supply. The introduction of the Rental Unit Repair License, set to take effect in March 2025, aims to address these issues by providing additional protections for tenants and filling gaps in the existing provincial framework.

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