A group of landlords and homeowners in Waterloo's Northdale area have put their 31 properties up for sale simultaneously, to protest the city's new rental housing bylaw.
Among other regulations, the new bylaw limits the rental houses to four tenants. Some homes in the neighbourhood currently house up to seven students.
The houses, along the length of Larch Street and sections of Balsam and Hickory Streets, are being sold as a package at an auction next week. The owners are looking for a minimum of $20 million altogether.
Paul Ellingham, who organized the sale, is a landlord and also a long-time area resident.
He says "People have paid a price where five or six or often seven students help to support the price that these houses have been selling for…if in some way that is reduced to four, it's going to leave many bankrupt landlords along the way."
Students like Janelle Blackwell say it could hurt them too.
She currently lives with five roommates and says "I think it would make it a lot more difficult and a lot more students might have to find part-time jobs and have to balance between schoolwork and work."
However, the city says the limit is intended to keep neighbourhoods safe.
Jim Barry is the director of bylaw enforcement for the City of Waterloo and he says "Council decided four was the number that met their objective and still provided that element of health and safety."
Meanwhile property owners say they'd like a developer to use the land for something that would improve the community, and Ellingham also says the group has already received a number of offers.
The bylaw is set to take effect in April 2012, and while city council could review it again, Barry says it is unlikely.
