[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Kleven_Jennifer.jpg” caption=”Jennifer Kleven, manager of the OCRC, reviews rental listings outside of the Off-Campus Resource Centre. “]The conditions in which some off-campus students live continues to be a concern for both McMaster University and community members. The Off-Campus Resource Centre (OCRC) at McMaster is tackling this issue with an off-campus housing review program.

The program, which is voluntary for interested landlords, is intended to serve as a starting point for students when looking for off-campus housing options. Under the program, an interested landlord would contact OCRC staff to put them in contact with an outside, third-party inspector who will be performing the accommodation review. Participating landlords would be responsible for payment directly to the inspector. If a landlord passed the review, the OCRC would be notified by the inspector and/or landlord and supplied a copy of the completed review checklist. An agreement would then be signed between the landlord and the OCRC, committing the landlord to proper maintenance of the property over the next 12 months. The landlord's advertisement would then be placed in the OCRC database, with special notation indicating that the unit has passed the review, meeting either the basic or enhanced criteria.

Jennifer Kleven, manager of the OCRC, sees the benefits of such a program as threefold: students will have access to a higher quality of accommodation choices by renting reviewed dwellings; the University will be operating on a proactive basis, to improve living conditions for those students who live off-campus; and the landlord will be allowed to enter into a termination agreement with tenants when they move in, which means the unit will almost always be vacant at the appropriate times to match the student rental cycle, and will be promoted as a reviewed property (under the Tenant Protection Act, landlords are allowed an exemption from the 'no termination agreement' clause, if they are operating under a signed agreement with a university).

McMaster University will not advertise only reviewed properties for various reasons, including financial. The Off-Campus Resource Centre (OCRC) is funded solely from listing fees it collects from landlords, so any decrease in that funding would negatively affect the office operations and the services offered to students. The OCRC is often called upon to offer insight and perspective on the local housing market. By keeping their services available to all landlords, the OCRC can stay in touch with what is happening in the local rental housing market. “The more involved the OCRC is, the better for everyone,” says Kleven.

Kleven also hopes that by listing reviewed versus non-reviewed listings, some healthy market competition may be created. “If the reviewed properties get rented first – as we anticipate they will – this may force those landlords whose places have not been reviewed to improve their properties in order to remain competitive.”

For full details of the Student Rental Accommodation Review Program and to view the Accommodation Review checklist and other related documents, please visit www.macocho.com.