Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)

I thank the witnesses for being here. Their statement and the RTB's report confirmed that even with high compliance with rent controls, average new rents have risen by 5.5%, which shows that regulation alone cannot fix the underlying supply shortage. What is the witnesses' view on that?

As regards the RTB, the witnesses have said that the large landlords are consolidating. In other words, there are 100-plus tenancies, it seems, rather than smaller landlords. They seem to be exiting. The current regulations and the tax environment seem to drive that consolidation and, therefore, it seems to make it unviable for smaller landlords.

I received two emails from landlords in the last while and they asked my office to intervene. Each had a tenant. One tenant had never moved into the apartment and the tenancy was there for two years and they were unhappy. The second had sublet. My office rang HAP. It said there was nothing it could do. Then my office was recommended to ring the RTB and it said no law had been broken. I am involved in the homeless sector. My fear is there are two units of housing there that are not being used yet there is nothing wrong being done. Is that something the RTB comes across?